India at Women’s T20 World Cup 2023: Squad, schedule, match timings, live streaming, all you need to know

Team India will kick off their journey in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup with a high-voltage encounter against their arch-rival Pakistan on 12 February at the Newlands Cricket Ground in Cape Town, South Africa. Captain Harmanpreet Kaur will lead the Indian brigade for the third consecutive time in the coveted tournament with star batter Smriti Mandhana serving the role of the vice-captain. T20 World Cup:  All you need to know India in Group B: The Women in Blue are placed in Group B where apart from Pakistan, they will face England, Ireland and West Indies in other group-league fixtures. Among the four teams, the top two will advance to the semi-finals which are slated to take place on 23 and 24 February. The final clash of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup is scheduled for 26 February in Cape Town. Runners-up in the previous edition: India came quite close to lifting their maiden T20 World Cup in the previous edition. But in the summit game, they lost to Australia, who took the trophy home for the record-extending fifth time. Batting first, the Aussies put up a mammoth total of 184 runs, taking full advantage of their home conditions. Coming in to chase, the Indian unit fell like a pack of cards as they were bundled out for 99 runs. Harmanpreet Kaur and Co. will aim not to replicate their previous performance in South Africa and try their best to engrave their name on the prestigious title for the first time. T20 World Cup:  Full schedule Squad news: The All-India Women’s Selection Committee announced the World Cup-bound squad on 28 December. There were several changes made in the 15-member side which caught the attention of the Indian cricket fraternity. Though the batting department had no highlighted modification, the bowling unit will see a few changes. Seamer Shikha Pandey has made a sensational comeback to the national side after a long period. The 33-year-old played her last T20I match in October 2021 in Australia. Then, she was controversially sidelined before the 2022 ICC Women’s World Cup. Pandey will replace Meghna Singh who was demoted to the reserves after a poor show against the Aussies. Notably, Shikha Pandey has an exceptional record in the 20-over format. She is India’s biggest wicket-taking pacer in WT20Is after the legendary Jhulan Goswami, with 40 scalps to her name. Among others, left-arm pacer Anjali Sarvani is set to make her maiden World Cup appearance following her impressive debut against Australia on home soil. The spin bowling options include Radha Yadav, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, and Devika Vaidya with Sneh Rana being in the reserves. The BCCI Women further stated that the availability of all-rounder Pooja Vastrakar will be subject to fitness. India squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Yastika Bhatia, Richa Ghosh, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harleen Deol, Deepti Sharma, Devika Vaidya, Radha Yadav, Renuka Thakur, Anjali Sarvani, Pooja Vastrakar, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Shikha Pandey. Reserves: Sabbhineni Meghana, Sneh Rana, Meghna Singh. Final preparation: After the squad was finalised, India played a tri-series including South Africa and West Indies in order to get familiar with the African conditions. However, the Kaur-led side lost the final to the hosts by 5 wickets. They also played two warm-up matches against Australia and Bangladesh respectively. While the Indian side endured a 44-run defeat in the first match, they beat the Asian nation by a huge margin of 52 runs. The group-league fixture of Team India in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup: (All timings as per the IST) India vs Pakistan | 12 February | 6:30 PM | Newlands Cricket Ground India vs West Indies | 15 February | 6:30 PM | Newlands Cricket Ground India vs England | 8 February | 6:30 PM | St George’s Park India vs Ireland | 20 February | 6:30 PM | St George’s Park India’s Squad for the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2023: Where to watch and live stream the Women’s T20 World Cup 2023 in India? The Women’s T20 World Cup 2023 matches will be broadcast live on the Star Sports Network channels. It can also be live streamed on the Disney+ Hotstar App. Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.