Pakistan feeling 'no pressure' ahead of crunch match against India, says skipper Fatima Sana

Pakistan hope to continue their victorious start to the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 as they head into their grudge match with India in Dubai.

Fatima Sana guided her side to a 31-run victory over Sri Lanka in their opening Group A game and will now look to make it back-to-back wins against an India side who lost out to New Zealand in their opening game on Friday.

“There is no such pressure,” Fatima said. “Because there will be a crowd and the atmosphere will be like this, there will be a little pressure on the girls.

“But we will try to be calm and not take much pressure. When we take the pressure, it doesn't go in our favour.

“We will try to be calm and handle the situation as well as we can.”

Aged just 22, Fatima is leading Pakistan in a World Cup for the first time, and another first will come as she skippers her side against India in one of the most anticipated matches of the tournament.

She showed no nerves against Sri Lanka with her impressive 30 from 20 balls helping propel Pakistan to 116, which they duly defended.

The all-rounder also had to bring herself on to bowl early after an injury to seamer Diana Baig, who is expected to be fit for the clash on Sunday. And while the bowlers will play their part, Fatima is keen to show the world how Pakistan have developed in their batting.

She added: “If you look at the last series against South Africa, a lot of our girls have improved in power hitting. In that series, our team hit six sixes in one match. After that, we scored eight sixes. It's a good thing that all the girls are confident in this. Personally, I used to bat a lot before, but I didn't know if I could hit or not. But with that belief now, it's become a lot easier.”

For India, the match against Pakistan must act as a reset after a 58-run loss to New Zealand.

Bowling coach Aavishkar Salvi believes the defeat to the White Ferns is already behind them and that there will be no big change in approach.

He said: “On Friday, whatever happened, Sunday is a fresh opportunity for us.

“So obviously girls have gone through the process, they have gone through the grind, they have gone through this before as well. We only tell them to stay strong, stay united, and just believe in our abilities, believe in our plans, and get back to it.

“It's basically just believing in your processes, what has worked for you so far. And for the bowling unit, obviously, they need to stay strong, stay united and stay focused on the next challenges that they will face. At the same time, whatever they have been following so far, what's been working well for them, they just go with that.”