Harmanpreet Kaur and Fatima Sana in frame. Image Credit: AFP
Women’s T20 World Cup 2026: The highest-profile match in women’s cricket is back as India Women and Pakistan Women will face each other in their first Group 1 match of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 at Edgbaston, Birmingham, on Sunday. Considering that their group also includes Australia and South Africa, two very strong teams, both India and Pakistan will be looking forward to beginning their campaigns with an important win. India look set to be one of the frontrunners for the tournament, given their incredible 2025 campaign that also saw them winning the Women’s ODI World Cup, for the first time, under the leadership of Harmanpreet Kaur. However, Pakistan have brought a young and energetic squad led by Fatima Sana, and they would be hoping to upset their more well-known neighbours.
| Matches | India Won | Pakistan Won | No Result |
| 16 | 13 | 3 | 0 |
Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues and captain Harmanpreet Kaur will be the core of India’s batting lineup which already looks strong. But, the side has been also strengthened by the young talents that have come up and the experienced Deepti Sharma as well.
Captain Fatima Sana will be the mainstay of the Pakistan team with the experienced all-rounder Nida Dar and the wicketkeeper-batter Muneeba Ali. Sources say that Fatima Sana, who was slightly hurt recently, is fine now and will probably play in the match.
The well-balanced surface in Edgbaston, Birmingham, is renowned for offering a fair game between bat and ball. Because there is movement available off the surface, fast bowlers are expected to find some support in the early overs. At this location, the typical first-innings score is between 165 and 170 runs.
India Women Predicted Playing XI: Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Richa Ghosh (wk), Bharti Fulmali, Deepti Sharma, Arundhati Reddy, Kranti Goud, Shree Charani, Renuka Singh
Pakistan Women Predicted Playing XI: Muneeba Ali (wk), Gull Feroza, Aliya Riaz, Ayesha Zafar, Iram Javed, Sana Fatima (C), Rameen Shamim, Nashra Sandhu, Sadia Iqbal, Tasmia Rubab, Diana Baig
India start as favourites on paper, judging by their superior head-to-head record, better batting line-up and recent achievements in ICC tournaments. In fact, India-Pakistan games hardly ever go based on the form books, and Pakistan will consider this match as a chance to make a big statement upfront in the tournament. Given a well-rounded team and more experience in big matches, India seems to be in a better position to bag two crucial points. However, they cannot afford to take an improving Pakistan team lightly.
India Women vs Pakistan Women Prediction: India Women to win.
Also Read: IND vs AFG: Shubman Gill’s Knock Powers India to Commanding 7-Wicket Win over Afghanistan In 1st ODI
Pragun is a passionate cricket follower and writer who deeply loves the game. Having completed his education with a degree in Journalism and Mass Communication, he has an experience of almost two years in diverse fields. He is known for his statistical and analytical articles. Pragun tries to bring life to his articles by adding a layer of enthusiasm from the perspective of a hardcore fan. Apart from writing cricket articles, he sometimes appears on YouTube videos on a friend’s podcast.
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