Super Sunday: India to face arch-rivals Pakistan in crucial World Cup clash

An early 58-run defeat to NZ not just dented India's chances of entering the semifinals, but it certainly has pushed them to a tight corner

Dubai: India will have to regroup quickly and iron out the imbalances in team combination when they face arch-rivals Pakistan in a crucial second group A match of the Women’s T20 World Cup here on Sunday.

An early 58-run defeat to New Zealand on Friday has not just dented India’s chances of entering the semifinals of the ICC showpiece, but it certainly has pushed them to a tight corner. India’s run rate currently stands at a poor -2.99 and it makes big victories mandatory for them in the remaining three matches against Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Australia.

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The Harmanpreet Kaur-led side was wretched in all three departments of the game against the Kiwis in its World Cup opener, and India now need a reversal within 24 hours. It’s tough but that is the path they have to tread against Pakistan, high on confidence after beating a strong Sri Lanka in the first match on Thursday.

As a first step, India will have to sort out their combinations ahead of the Pakistan game. They went a batter light against New Zealand to accommodate an extra pacer in Arundhati Reddy and it meant a wholescale rejigging of the line-up. It forced the promotion of Harmanpreet to No. 3, Jemimah Rodrigues to No., 4 and Richa Ghosh to No.5, not the usual slots for these batters.

For instance, Harmanpreet, who is a solid presence at No. 4, has never made a fifty in her previous 19 gigs at No.3 and to make her play precisely at that position in a World Cup was quixotic. The inclusion of three pacers was not wrong move on hindsight as there was no dew and the Kiwis pacers made full use of a hard deck.

But India made a hash of their three-pronged pace attack move, giving just one over to Pooja Vastrakar, the third-best bowler in T20Is this year with 20 wickets from 16 matches. Also, the decision to go with the pace troika cost India the presence of left-arm spinner Radha Yadav, their second most successful T20I bowler with 22 wickets from 13 matches.

So, head coach Amol Muzumdar will need to take a long look at the combination as another defeat will seriously hamper India’s chances of progressing to the last four stages from Group A. But stats apart, India, particularly batters, looked mentally frozen against the Kiwis, evidenced by the highest individual score in their innings – a 15 by Harmanpreet. In that context, India might just think of adding Dayalan Hemalatha to bolster the batting.

Though India have a head-to-head edge over Pakistan in T20Is, winning 12 out of 15 matches so far, they have the ammunition to stun any opposition. Their bowling is especially formidable with the likes of experienced Nida Dhar, captain Fatima Sana and Sadia Iqbal leading the pack. However, Pakistan will keep a close eye on the fitness lead pacer Diana Baig after she suffered a calf strain in the match against Sri Lanka, limping out after bowling just one ball.