Pakistan bat; Richa Ghosh back for India

Pakistan chose to bat vs India

Pakistan captain Nida Dar won the toss and decided to bat against India in their opening game of the 2024 Women’s Asia Cup, in windy Dambulla.

Dar said at the toss that the surface looks “pretty dry”. It’s a used pitch, with Nepal beating UAE on it earlier in the day.

India made three changes to the side that last played against South Africa in Chennai. Richa Ghosh was back as a keeper after missing two games in the home series due to concussion. Renuka Singh and D Hemalatha also returned to the XI in place of Arundhati Reddy and Sajeevan Sajana. Deepti Sharma, Radha Yadav and Shreyanka Patil were the three spinners with Pooja Vastrakar and Renuka the pace-bowling options.

Pakistan went with a spin-heavy side including Tuba Hassan, Sadia Iqbal, Nashra Sandhu as frontliners, all-round spin options in Syeda Aroob Shah and Dar, while Fatima Sana and Aliya Riaz are the fast bowlers.

India have won five out of the six games against Pakistan at the Asia Cup. Pakistan emerged victorious the last time, in Sylhet, in 2022.

India: Shafali Verma, Smriti Mandhana, D Hemalatha, Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh (wk), Deepti Sharma, Pooja Vastrakar, Shreyanka Patil, Radha Yadav, Renuka Thakur Singh.

Pakistan: Sidra Ameen, Gull Feroza, Muneeba Ali (wk), Nida Dar (capt), Aliya Riaz, Iram Javed, Fatima Sana, Tuba Hassan, Sadia Iqbal, Nashra Sandhu, Syeda Aroob Shah

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