Will Shafali Verma Bowl First Over For India in Women's T20 WC Opener Against Pakistan?

India Women's T20 World Cup campaign will begin on June 14 when they face Pakistan at Edgbaston, Birmingham. The Women in Blue will go as favorites in the greatest rivalry in cricket, given their superiority in every department.

While batting is India's strength, their bowling attack looks in great shape as well. Despite having some of the top bowlers in world cricket India Women might go with a completely different strategy for the match against the arch-rivals. This new strategy includes Shafali Verma bowling the first over of the match.

Will Shafali Verma Bowl First Over For India Against Pakistan?

Shafali Verma is known for her destructive batting at the top. However, she might bowl the first over of the innings during the Women's T20 World Cup match against Pakistan. Shafali Verma bowling first over could be a totally unexpected move for the Women in Green.

It is not something new for Team India as they have already tried it during both the warm-up games. Shafali Verma bowled the first over of the match against West Indies and the trend continued in India's second warm-up match against England as well.

It seemed to be a strange move by India's team management when Shafali bowled the first over against West Indies. However, when she bowled the opening over against England, it gave rise to the speculation whether Shafali will continue to bowl in the main matches too.

In the IND-W vs WI-W match, Verma bowled well and returned figures of 0-9 in 2 overs. She bowled just a solitary over in the powerplay in this game. Meanwhile, Shafali continued her impressive medium-pace bowling in the IND-W vs ENG-W match as she finished with 1-18 in 2 overs.

Shafali Verma - India's Trump Card in Women's T20 World Cup 2026

Despite the expectations of Shafali Verma bowling in Women World Cup, her batting will be one of the things to watch out for. She is arguably one of the best women cricketers going around and can change the course of the game with her aggessive batting.

Shafali will be opening the batting alongside Smriti Mandhana, India's vice-captain. The right-hander helped India win the ODI World Cup last year with her late appearances and was the Player of the Match in the final. The team management will look up to her for impactful performances once again.