World Cup Sunday: The Big One – India vs Pakistan match preview

India: Start as favorites. Coming off 2025 ODI World Cup win at home. Led by Harmanpreet Kaur. Key players: Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh. Pakistan: Led by Fatima Sana, who’s carrying a knee niggle. Also rely on Nida Dar, Sadia Iqbal, Muneeba Ali. Head-to-head: India lead 13-3 in T20Is, 6-2 in T20 World Cups. Last met in 2024 T20 WC – India won by 6 wickets. In one of the most eagerly awaited contests of the tournament, India will face Pakistan from 1.30pm GMT, also in Birmingham. The rivalry, however, is one-sided as ODI champions India lead the head-to-head 6-2 in T20 World Cups and 13-3 in T20Is overall. There will be immense pressure on both sides to start well in what's being termed the group of death. India's main selection decisions will be around picking one of Yastika Bhatia and Bharti Fulmali, and choosing two pace bowlers out of Arundhati Reddy, Renuka Singh and recent debutant Nandani Sharma. Edgbaston averages ∼6.55 RPO in women’s T20s over the last 4 years, not a high-scoring ground. Big South Asian crowd expected. Pakistan captain Fatima Sana had a ball hit back into her knee when she was bowling in the nets on Saturday. She said later at the press conference she would "hopefully" be fine to play the opener. Pakistan Probable XI : Muneeba Ali, Gull Feroza, Ayesha Zafar, Saira Jabeen, Rameen Shamim, Aliya Riaz, Fatima Sana (c), Eyman Fatima, Diana Baig, Nashra Sandhu, Sadia Iqbal India Probable XI Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Yastika Bhatia, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet Kaur, Richa Ghosh (wk), Deepti Sharma, Arundhati Reddy/Renuka Singh, Kranti Gaud, Shree Charani, Nandani Sharma Shafali Verma, just 22, is set to turn out her in fourth T20 World Cup. The Player of the Match from the ODI World Cup final is yet to score a half-century in the T20 edition and will be itching to get going against Pakistan after she and Smriti Mandhana failed to put on substantial opening partnerships in the bilateral series recently. If Friday evening was anything to go by for the Birmingham surface, Shafali would want to emulate Danny Wyatt-Hodge with a big score of her own. Bottom line: India open their T20 World Cup campaign against Pakistan on Sunday at Edgbaston. India are favorites after their ODI WC win, but it’s still India vs Pakistan – pressure, rivalry, and a full house at Edgbaston.