In their initial encounter of the 2024 Women’s Asia Cup in windy Dambulla, Pakistani captain Nida Dar chose to bat against India after winning the toss.
“Pretty dry” is how Dar described the surface appearance at the toss. It’s a used pitch; earlier in the day, Nepal defeated UAE on it.
India made three changes to the team that took on South Africa in Chennai the previous time around.
Due to a concussion, Richa Ghosh missed two games in the home series but returned as a keeper. Arundhati Reddy and Sajeevan Sajana were replaced in the XI by Renuka Singh and D Hemalatha. Pooja Vastrakar and Renuka were the choices for fast bowling, while Deepti Sharma, Radha Yadav, and Shreyanka Patil were the three spinners.
Pakistan had a spin-heavy team that included quick bowlers Fatima Sana and Aliya Riaz, all-around spin options Syeda Aroob Shah and Dar, and front-runners Tuba Hassan, Sadia Iqbal, and Nashra Sandhu.
In their six Asia Cup matches versus Pakistan, India has won five of them. The last time Pakistan triumphed was at Sylhet in 2022.
India
