Led by captain Harmanpreet Kaur, the Indian cricket team will look to go the distance in the Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 being held in the United Arab Emirates from October 3 to 20.
India are in Group A with defending champions Australia, arch-rivals Pakistan, New Zealand and Sri Lanka.
At world No. 3, India are the second-best ranked team in the group after world No. 1 Australia. New Zealand are fourth while Sri Lanka and Pakistan are seventh and eighth, respectively, in the ICC Women’s T20 rankings.
The Indian women’s cricket team opened its T20 World Cup campaign with a 58-run loss against New Zealand at the Dubai International Stadium on Friday, October 4.
India’s next matches in the competition will be against Pakistan (Sunday, October 6), Sri Lanka (Wednesday, October 9) and Australia (Sunday, October 13).
The top two from each group will advance to the semi-finals scheduled on October 17 and 18. The final will be hosted at the Dubai International Stadium on October 20.
Despite making the semi-finals four times and the final once in their eight appearances in the competition so far, India are yet to win the Women’s T20 World Cup.
India came close in 2020 but a loss to hosts Australia in the final ended their bid. India made the semi-finals at the previous edition held last year but were undone again by the Aussies.
South Africa, England, West Indies, Bangladesh and Scotland make up Group B of the 10-team tournament.
The Indian women’s cricket team will take confidence from their strong showings in the two warm-up fixtures ahead of the group stage. India beat 2016 champions West Indies and last year’s runner-ups South Africa by comfortable margins.
