Harmanpreet Kaur won the toss and chose to bat first as India took on Pakistan in their opening Group A fixture of the 2026 Women's T20 World Cup at Edgbaston, Birmingham on Sunday, 14 June. Bharti Fulmali earned a place in the playing eleven, with Yastika Bhatia making way, in what is a significant selection call ahead of the tournament's marquee India-Pakistan contest.

Toss and Team Selection

Harmanpreet, making her tenth T20 World Cup appearance, confirmed India would line up with three spinners and two medium pacers, reflecting confidence in spin on what both captains described as a batting-friendly surface. The decision to drop Bhatia — who has been in good recent form — in favour of Fulmali signals a deliberate tactical shift going into the tournament opener.

Notably, in keeping with the pattern of all previous India-Pakistan meetings at the international level, no handshake took place between the two captains at the toss.

What Harmanpreet Said

Speaking at the toss, Harmanpreet Kaur explained the batting-first decision and acknowledged the confidence boost from India's recent ODI title. 'I think it's a pretty good pitch to bat on, so we just thought let's bat and put a decent total on the board. Well, I think we all are really excited. The last World Cup definitely gave us a lot of confidence and we just want to carry that confidence to this World Cup,' she said.

On the selection of Fulmali over Bhatia, Harmanpreet added: 'Yastika did really well, but today we thought of going with the Bharti.'

Pakistan's Response

Pakistan captain Fatima Sana confirmed that Saira Jabeen — playing her first T20 World Cup game — has been included in their eleven. Fatima said her side would also have batted first had they won the toss, but expressed confidence in Pakistan's bowling attack to make an impact. 'We have a good and experienced bowling attack, so I think it will be a good contest,' she said.

India's T20 Form and Tournament Context

India arrive at this tournament on the back of winning the 2025 Women's ODI World Cup on home soil — a result that injected significant belief into the squad. However, their T20I form heading into 2026 has been mixed, making this opener against a competitive Pakistan side a genuine test of their adaptability across formats.

This is also the first edition of the Women's T20 World Cup to feature 12 teams, raising the competitive stakes across all group fixtures. With both sides keen to set the tone early, the Edgbaston contest shapes up as one of the tournament's most anticipated group-stage clashes.

Playing XIs

India: Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet Kaur (captain), Richa Ghosh (wk), Deepti Sharma, Bharti Fulmali, N Sree Charani, Kranti Gaud, Shreyanka Patil, Arundhati Reddy.

Pakistan: Gull Feroza, Muneeba Ali Siddiqui (wk), Ayesha Zafar, Saira Jabeen, Aliya Riaz, Natalia Pervaiz, Fatima Sana (captain), Rameen Shamim, Nashra Sandhu, Tasmia Rubab, Sadia Iqbal.