Women’s T20 World Cup 2024: Why is Pooja Vastrakar not playing vs Pakistan?

On Sunday, October 6, at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium in Dubai, the seventh group match of the ongoing Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 pits India Women (IND-W) against their fiercest rivals, Pakistan Women (PAK-W). Fatima Sana, the captain of Pakistan, made the right decision to bat first at the toss. Pacer Diana Baig has been replaced by Syeda Aroob Shah, the only change made by the women in Green.

Conversely, India brought one significant change to their starting XI going into the match. Prominent all-rounder Pooja Vastrakar is out because of an injury. It’s interesting to note that she was hurt before India’s opening tournament matchup against New Zealand, yet she still played in that match. However, she only came to bowl one over and fielded the entire game instead of coming to bowl another.

Sajeevan Sajana, who will participate in her eighth Twenty20 International match, has taken Pooja Vastrakar slot.

“We would have also taken the field first, but we’ll need to bowl well and limit them.” We have one change: Sajana has taken Pooja’s spot due to her injury. We’ve talked about it, so we’ll need to forward with optimism. It’s always about how you recover. “We’re going to play some positive cricket outside,” Harmanpreet Kaur declared during the toss.

However, the Pakistani captain was pleased about captaining her team against the neighboring nation. Even without the seasoned Baig, Fatima Sana was confident that they could play well against India.

“We’ll bat first and post our total on the scoreboard. The only thing that’s changed is that Arooba takes Diana Baig’s position, therefore she loses out.

Also Read: ‘Every game from here is so crucial for us’- Jemimah Rodrigues ahead of T20 World Cup match vs Pakistan

Although it’s a major setback, we have players who can step up in her place. Here, we’ll attempt to post a respectable sum. At the toss, Sana declared, “I’m excited to lead Pakistan against India.”

India Women (Playing XI): Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh (wk), Deepti Sharma, Arundhati Reddy, S Sajana, Shreyanka Patil, Asha Sobhana, Renuka Thakur Singh.

Pakistan Women (Playing XI): Muneeba Ali (wk), Gull Feroza, Sidra Amin, Nida Dar, Aliya Riaz, Omaima Sohail, Fatima Sana (c), Tuba Hassan, Nashra Sandhu, Syeda Aroob Shah, Sadia Iqbal.