Harmanpreet Kaur To Drop Jemimah? IND-W's Probable XI Vs PAK-W In Asia Cup 2024

Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma opening the innings for India in T20Is [X]Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma opening the innings for India in T20Is [X]

The Women's T20I World Cup is slated to take place later this year in October. Ahead of the marquee tournament, the Indian women's team will be participating in the Asia Cup and will be looking to make the most of the tournament as a preparatory ground for the upcoming grand event.

The Harmanpreet Kaur-led side will be kickstarting their campaign against the arch-rivals, Pakistan. This match will be played at the Rangiri International Cricket Stadium in Dambulla on July 19. In this article, we will take a look at the probable playing XI of the Indian team for this all-important game. 


Team India's recent performances

The Indian team will be carrying great form and momentum into this tournament. They have recently played a good series against the South African women's team. Harmanpreet Kaur and her girls whitewashed the Proteas in the three-match ODI series and then followed it up by winning the one-off Test. The T20 series was concluded at a 1-1 scoreline as one of the games was abandoned due to rain. 


An eye on the team composition

The team will be confident after this show and also their performances in the recent few series. Looking at the form of the players in the recent games, there is no doubt that Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma will open the innings against Pakistan. Harmanpreet Kaur, Richa Ghosh and Deepti Sharma will form the middle order of the line-up. India might look to test Dayalan Hemlatha as a part of the setup; however, there is very little chance that they will drop Jemimah Rodrigues for an important game like this. 

Pooja Vastrakar, Shreyanka Patil, Renuka Singh Thakur, and Asha Shobana will be in charge of the bowling department. There will be a conundrum as to who gets a nod between Arundhati Reddy and Radha Yadav. However, keeping in mind the way the Dambulla wicket has behaved in the ongoing Lankan Premier League (LPL 2024), we can expect Reddy to be a part of the playing XI. 

India Women Probable Playing XI vs Pakistan Women

Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Richa Ghosh (wk), Shreyanka Patil, Deepti Sharma, Pooja Vastrakar, Renuka Singh Thakur, Asha Shobana, Arundhati Reddy