India have dropped Yastika Bhatia from their playing XI against Pakistan in their T20 World Cup 2026 opener against arch-rivals Pakistan. Explaining the reason behind the move, captain Harmanpreet Kaur stated that the team management wanted more firepower in the middle order and hence, Bharti Fulmali fit the bill.ย
โBharti’s playing today. And yeah, Yastika did really well, but today we thought of going with the Bharti,โ Harmanpreet said after the toss.
Notably, Yastika featured in all five games leading up to the T20 World Cup. In the three-match series against England, the 25-year-old even scored a half-century, but her strike rate has been a concern. That played a huge role in the team management dropping her. On top of that, she prefers to bat in the top order, which is currently stacked with Shafali Varma, Smriti Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues.
India opt to bat first
India have won the toss and elected to bat first in Edgbaston. Explaining the reason, Harmanpreet mentioned that the wicket looked good to bat on early and they want to put a decent score on board and try to contain Pakistan.ย
โWe will bat first. I think it’s a very good pitch to bat on, so we just thought let’s bat and set a decent total on the board,โ Harmanpreet said.ย
The India captain also addressed the feeling of coming to a global tournament following their ODI World Cup win last year. She mentioned that the team is excited and will carry the confidence to the blockbuster clash.ย
โWell, I think we all are very excited. The last World Cup definitely has given us a lot of confidence and we just want to carry that confidence to this World Cup,โ Harmanpreet said.
On the other hand, Pakistan captain Fatima Sana said that she would have opted to bat first as well, because it looks like a proper batting track.
India Women (Playing XI): Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Bharti Fulmali, Richa Ghosh (wk), Deepti Sharma, Arundhati Reddy, Shreyanka Patil, Shree Charani, Kranti Gaud
Pakistan Women (Playing XI): Gull Feroza, Muneeba Ali (wk), Ayesha Zafar, Saira Jabeen, Aliya Riaz, Natalia Pervaiz, Fatima Sana (c), Rameen Shamim, Nashra Sandhu, Tasmia Rubab, Sadia Iqbal
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