India vs Pakistan
Dambulla, July 19, 7.00pm local time
Let’s look at the last year for this one.
India first, purely alphabetically. They have played
17 T20Is in this period and have a 10-5 win-loss record (with two games ending in no-results). Right at the top, they won the Asian Games gold in Hangzhou by beating Sri Lanka by 19 runs in the final. They then lost back-to-back series at home against England and Australia, swept Bangladesh 5-0 in Sylhet and, most recently, their three-match series in Chennai against South Africa ended 1-1 with the second game washed out after one innings.
Pakistan have actually played more T20I cricket in the same timeframe – 19 completed games. But they have won only seven of them while losing 12. Prior to the Asian Games, they hosted South Africa at home and had a fantastic result, winning 3-0. The Asian Games wasn’t special. They got to the semi-finals as expected, but lost to Sri Lanka there, and then to Bangladesh in the bronze-medal playoff. They have since lost a T20I series in Bangladesh, at home against West Indies, and were swept 3-0 most recently in England. The only series win came in New Zealand late last year when they won 2-1.
India vs Pakistan – head-to-head
There have been
14 fixtures between the two sides over the years but, for reasons known, no bilateral series. The only time a match was held in one of the two countries, in Delhi during the T20 World Cup 2016, Pakistan beat India by two runs in a rain-shortened game. That, though, is one of only three matches Pakistan have won against India in T20Is. India have won 11.
And at the Asia Cup, too, India have a big edge. They have won five out of the six games they have played against Pakistan. The one Pakistan won, however, was at
the last Asia Cup, in Sylhet, in 2022.
For India,
Smriti Mandhana and
Shafali Verma form a destructive opening pair. Mandhana, usually the one who bats longer of the two, has 3320 T20I runs at an average of 28.13 and a strike rate of 121.83. The corresponding numbers for Shafali are 1748, 24.27 and 129.48. Getting rid of one of them quickly is often not enough for oppositions; both of them have to be removed, and fast.
For Pakistan, the star is captain
Nida Dar, the bowling allrounder who picks up wickets pretty much each time she bowls and can be trusted to score useful runs. And
Sidra Amin has been in the middle of a purple patch with the bat – she has 205 runs from eight innings this year.
In India and Sri Lanka, the Women’s Asia Cup 2024 will be telecast on the Star Sports Network. The live streaming will be available on the Disney+ Hotstar app and website in India. [ESPNcricinfo and Disney Star are part of the Walt Disney Company.]
