Mithali Raj will be eager to get her hands on a maiden title in what would be her last hurrah for India at the world stage, England’s Heather Knight will hope to defend it while Meg Lanning seems primed to lead Australia to a ‘magnificent seventh’ when the ICC Women’s World Cup gets underway here on Friday.

The tournament, postponed by a year owing to the Covid-19 pandemic, will be played across six venues with the ICC deciding that teams will stay in a “managed environment” instead of stringent bio-bubbles.

The marquee event will be played in the league format, where all eight teams will face each other once with the top four sides qualifying for the semi-finals.

India, runners-up in the last edition and in 2005, open their campaign against arch-rivals Pakistan on Sunday, while hosts New Zealand, who won the title in 2000, will take on West Indies in the tournament opener. Australia, the most successful side with six titles, will meet defending champions England.

The contenders:

• Australia: Hurt by the shock semi-final loss to India in 2017, six-time champions Australia have left no stone unturned in their quest for an unprecedented seventh title. Australia have lost just one ODI in their last 30 games. Labelled favourites, Australia head to the World Cup on the back of a dominating 3-0 ODI series victory against arch-rivals England.

In Ellyse Perry, Alyssa Healy, Meg Lanning and Beth Mooney, Australia have plenty of experience at the top while the likes of Ashleigh Gardner and Jess Jonassen will be tasked to play the big shot towards the end, making for a strong batting unit.

• India: Runners-up in the last edition, India will be keen to go one step ahead and claim the title that has eluded them, specially skipper Mithali and veteran pacer Jhulan Goswami, who will be playing their last World Cup.

India were staring at a demoralising 0-5 whitewash at the hands of New Zealand but have been able to regain some confidence by winning the final match of the series while also emerging victorious in their warm-up games.

Star opener Smriti Mandhana is in good nick while Harmanpreet Kaur, considered a big-event player, has also found her groove and is expected to set the stage ablaze.

• England: The defending champions and the second most successful team in the history of the tournament, England will be eager to retain their crown. Kate Cross will be making her much-awaited debut. She has picked up the most wickets for England since 2019 at an average of 17.24 and an economy rate just above four runs per over.

• New Zealand: The White Ferns won their only title at home in 2000. The hosts will look to repeat the feat. Sophie Devine and her side registered a 4-1 series win over India while notching up a mammoth nine-wicket victory over Australia in the warm-up game.

• South Africa: Riding high on confidence owing to series victories over the West Indies, Pakistan and India, South Africa will aim to sustain the momentum in search of their maiden World Cup title. Sune Luus and Co. have played the most ODIs among all teams since the 2017 World Cup.

• West Indies: West Indies qualified for the tournament owing to their ODI rankings after the Qualifiers were cancelled mid-way last year due to Covid-19. The runners-up finish in 2013 was their best ever performance.

• Pakistan: Pakistan have competed in four World Cups, finishing at the bottom in three of them. Their best result was a fifth place finish in the 2009 edition.

• Bangladesh: Bangladesh will play in the tournament for the first time.