India are playing three seamers and spinners each, skipper Mithali Raj confirmed after winning the toss and choosing to bat in the opening fixture of their ICC Women’s World Cup campaign against Pakistan in Mount Maunganui on Sunday. 

After finishing runners up in 2005 and 2017, India are eyeing their maiden World Cup title. The tournament means all the more to veteran pacer Jhulan Goswami and skipper Raj, who will be playing their last World Cup.

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Meanwhile, speaking on her decision to bat, Raj said, “It’s a good wicket to bat, put up a big total and put pressure on them. We’re going with three seamers and three spinners.”

She further said the Indian side are looking to capitalise on the momentum from the last two games against New Zealand.

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“We want to go into the tournament with a clean slate, take some momentum from the last game which we won against New Zealand. The hunger to do well in World Cups has kept me going,” Raj said. 

Meanwhile, Pakistan skipper Bismah Maroof said, “We wanted to bowl first, we now need to restrict them. We are going into the match with five bowlers. We have had a good warm-up, so we need to continue playing like that.”

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“I’m blessed to be back doing what I love, and getting some real support from the entire team,” she added. 

Playing XIs:

India: Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Deepti Sharma, Harmanpreet Kaur, Mithali Raj (c), Richa Ghosh (w), Sneh Rana, Jhulan Goswami, Meghna Singh, Pooja Vastrakar, Rajeshwari Gayakwad

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Pakistan: Javeria Khan, Sidra Ameen, Bismah Maroof (c), Omaima Sohail, Nida Dar, Aliya Riaz, Fatima Sana, Sidra Nawaz (w), Diana Baig, Nashra Sandhu, Anam Amin