NEWS
Follow UsThe Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 is getting ready for its first arch-rivals match with the India Women gearing up to take on Pakistan on October 6 (Sunday) in Dubai.
Pakistan registered a convincing victory in their opening fixture of the tournament, defeating Sri Lanka by 31 runs. On the other hand, India suffered a stuttering start, losing to New Zealand by a whopping margin of 58 runs.
Fatima Sana, the Pakistan skipper, is hoping that her team can carry the momentum, but was cautious enough to mention that they are under no pressure heading into the contest.
“There is no such pressure,” Fatima said on the eve of the match. “Because there will be a crowd and the atmosphere will be like this, there will be a little pressure on the girls.
“But we will try to be calm and not take much pressure. When we take the pressure, it doesn't go in our favour. We will try to be calm and handle the situation as well as we can,” she said.
Fatima played a key role in Pakistan’s win over Sri Lanka. She top-scored with 30 off 20 deliveries while batting at number three, stretching Pakistan’s total from 84/8 at one point to a competitive 116. Later, she also pouched the key wicket of Chamari Athapaththu in the third over of Sri Lanka’s chase. Overall, she picked 2/10 in her 2.5 overs.
Fatima said that improvement in the power-hitting department is required, which would be the key for Pakistan in this World Cup, let alone the clash against India.
“If you look at the last series against South Africa, a lot of our girls have improved in power hitting. In that series, our team hit six sixes in one match. After that, we scored eight sixes.
“It's a good thing that all the girls are confident in this. Personally, I used to bat a lot before, but I didn't know if I could hit or not. But with that belief now, it's become a lot easier,” the skipper said.
On the contrary, India are yet to put points on the board and are (-) 2.9 on the net run rate front. How will they recover from that?
Bowling coach Aavishkar Salvi believes the defeat to New Zealand is already behind them and the Women in Blue are set to get back on track.
“On Friday (October 4), whatever happened, Sunday is a fresh opportunity for us. So obviously girls have gone through the process, they have gone through the grind, they have gone through this before as well.
“We only tell them to stay strong, stay united and just believe in our abilities, believe in your plans, and get back to it. It's basically just believe in your processes, what has worked for you so far,” he said.
On the bowling unit, which conceded an above par total on Friday, Salvi said, “For the bowling unit, they need to stay strong, stay united and stay focused on the next challenges that they will face. At the same time, whatever they have been following so far, what's been working well for them, they just go with that.”
India and Pakistan women have clashed 10 times in T20Is since 2014 with India winning eight of these fixtures. However, this time, it will be a near do-or-die game for Harmanpreet Kaur and Co.
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