India-W begin ICC Women’s T20 World Cup with mega-rivalry against Pakistan-W

Team India is all set to kickstart their 2026 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup campaign with a blockbuster battle against their arch-rivals, Pakistan with so much on the line, especially after India lifted the ICC Women’s ODI World Cup last year, ending a long wait for the silverware.

India will come to this game on the back of a win and a defeat in the warm-up games where they played West Indies and England. India had an emphatic performance against the Windies where their batters put up a solid show while their bowlers backed them incredibly well. However, against England, an early hiccup was a bit too overwhelming for them to recover from but Richa Ghosh played an incredible knock, taking India within touching distance of the finish line.

Pakistan, on the contrary, will come to this challenge on the back of two consecutive defeats in their respective warm-up games. They slumped to Sri Lanka after a commanding batting performance from the latter took the game away from them while Scotland got the better of them in a rain-curtailed encounter.

Both the sides come into this battle with a lot of legacy to back them. India will rely heavily on their well-stacked batting unit while Pakistan will need to punch heroically above their weight to cause an upset, considering the kind of momentum that the Women in Blue have savoured in recent times.

Venue watch:

Edgbaston’s surface has been one where pacers have looked in control over the years. The bounce is true and the ball carries nicely. Batters have usually enjoyed themselves here on the track and once the ball loses its sheen, it’s too easy to work out one’s way on the track. With the kind of firepower that both the sides come in with, one can expect this to be a cracker of a contest.

Match detail:

Match: India vs Pakistan, ICC Women’s T20I World Cup

Venue: Edgbaston Stadium, Birmingham

Date: 14th June, 2026

Time: 7:00 PM

Head-to-head:

Matches played: 16

India: 13

Pakistan: 3

Squads:

India:

Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Smriti Mandhana (VC), Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Bharti Fulmali, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh (WK), Sree Charani, Yastika Bhatia (WK), Nandni Sharma, Arundhati Reddy, Renuka Thakur, Kranti Gaud, Shreyanka Patil, Radha Yadav.

Pakistan:

Fatima Sana (captain), Gull Feroza, Ayesha Zafar, Iram Javed, Eyman Fatima, Aliya Riaz, Natalia Parvaiz, Saira Jabeen, Muneeba Ali, Tuba Hassan, Rameen Shamim, Sadia Iqbal, Nashra Sandhu, Diana Baig, Tasmia Rubab.