Women's World T20 2020, Final: India's predicted playing XI

The Indian women's team will face hosts Australia in the former's maiden ICC World T20 final at Melbourne on Sunday. The performance of the Indian team has been quite clinical thus far and they will fancy their chances of winning the title.

The individual performances of the players have been commendable too with Shafali Verma leading the way with the bat at the top of the order and Poonam Yadav putting up impressive performances with the ball.

With both teams looking well settled in terms of team combination, here's how India could lineup for the summit clash.

Openers

Smriti Mandana, Shafali Verma

Shafali Verma

Shafali Verma has been simply sensational in the tournament so far. The youngster has smashed 161 runs in 4 games at an outstanding average of 40.25 and a high-strike of 161. She will be crucial to India's chances in the finals. Verma will need more support from her senior batting partner Smriti Mandana, who has scored just 38 runs from 3 games and will be keen to step up on the big occasion.

Also see – MI team

Middle-order

Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet Kaur, Veda Krishnamurthy

Harmanpreet Kaur

The Indian middle-order hasn't really clicked in the tournament. Jemimah Rodrigues has gotten off to starts in a couple of matches but hasn't been able to produce any substantial knocks with 75 runs in 4 games. Veda Krishnamurthy too hasn't had many opportunities so far but has done decently as a finisher. However, the biggest disappointment has been the form of skipper Harmanpreet Kaur. Kaur has managed a paltry 26 runs in 4 innings at a poor average of 6.5 and she will be key to India's fortunes against a strong Australian bowling attack.

Wicket-keeper and all-rounder

Taniya Bhatia, Deepti Sharma

The Indian wicket-keeper Taniya Bhatia has been exceptional behind the stumps. She has been used at the top on a couple of occasions and it will be interesting to see where she bats in the final. Deepti Sharma has been mighty effective for India in the tournament. While she has played some crucial knocks batting lower down the order, Deepti has been very tidy with the ball too.

Bowlers

Shikha Pandey, Radha Yadav, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Poonam Yadav

Poonam Yadav

The experienced Shikha Pandey will be the lone seamer in the bowling attack. The 30-year-old has bowled with good control and has delivered in crunch moments. Poonam Yadav, Rajeshwari Gayakwad and Radha Yadav will be handling the spin duties for India. Poonam, in particular, will hold the aces for India as she is the highest wicket-taker in the tournament with 9 wickets from four matches.

India's predicted playing XI

Smriti Mandana, Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Veda Krishnamurthy, Deepti Sharma, Taniya Bhatia (WK), Shikha Pandey, Radha Yadav, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Poonam Yadav.