The India Women’s team will most likely be without star opener Smriti Mandhana in their T20 World Cup opener against Pakistan in Cape Town on Sunday after stand-in coach Hrishikesh Kanitkar revealed that she was yet to recover fully from a finger injury.

Earlier on Saturday though it had seemed Mandhana was ready for the game after she posted pictures of herself in full cricketing gear on social media with the caption: “Let’s go T20WorldCup2023”.

But with or without Mandhana, India should not face much difficulty in overcoming the Pakistan hurdle. On paper at least, the gulf between the two sides is quite big with India regularly challenging the best while their neighbours’ bright spots are few and far between. However, the last time the two teams met, in the Asia Cup, Pakistan had stunned India.

India will be happy that captain Harmanpreet Kaur has recovered from her shoulder niggle.

“Smriti is still (in) recovery, so she won’t play most likely... we’re hopeful she will be available from the second game onwards. Harman is fit to play. She has batted for the last two days in the nets, she is fine,” Kanitkar said.

The run-up to the tournament hasn’t been ideal for India. They lost the tri-series final to South Africa and were also beaten by Australia in a warm-up game.

If Mandhana doesn’t play, Shefali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues and Harmanpreet herself will have to inspire confidence in the team with the bat.

With the ball, the onus will be on the spinners to make an impact.