The ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup festivities begin today (Tuesday) in India and Sri Lanka, with India facing Sri Lanka in Guwahati.

Matches will take place across Guwahati, Indore, Visakhapatnam, and Navi Mumbai in India and in Sri Lanka at the R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo.

Eight teams will participate in the mega event. Pakistan will play its first match against Bangladesh on October 2.

The much-anticipated Pakistan-India clash will take place on October 5, while the final of the Women’s World Cup will be held on November 2.

Pakistan will play all their group-stage matches at the R Premadasa International Cricket Stadium in Colombo.

Should Pakistan qualify for the 29 October semi-final and the 2 November final, then both the matches will take place in Colombo.

Australia are the defending champions and a record seven-time winners of the one-day international (ODI) competition.

Fatima Sana, captain of the Pakistan women’s cricket team, said, “Our preparations for the World Cup have been focused and purposeful. We have worked on the areas where improvement was needed and it is encouraging to see the progress we have made. This process really started in the Qualifiers, where we had a strong campaign, winning all our matches to secure our place in this mega event.

“The players have shown great commitment in the training session in Colombo. The conditions are quite similar to back home in Pakistan, which has helped the squad adjust quickly,“ she added.

“The World Cup is the biggest stage for us and we know that consistency, discipline and teamwork will be key to moving forward. Our focus is to compete hard in every match, execute our plans well and give our best to reach the knockout stage,“ she added.

15-member squad:

Fatima Sana (captain), Muneeba Ali Siddiqui (vice-captain), Aliya Riaz, Diana Baig, Eyman Fatima, Nashra Sundhu, Natalia Parvaiz, Omaima Sohail, Rameen Shamim, Sadaf Shamas, Sadia Iqbal, Shawaal Zulfiqar, Sidra Amin, Sidra Nawaz (wicket-keeper) and Syeda Aroob Shah.