Under the clear, blue West Midland skies, dotted by some impish, puffy clouds more white than grey, Harmanpreet Kaur and her women got down to work on Saturday afternoon.

It had been cold and windy earlier in the day. Now it was bright and sunny.

Weather can be fickle in England. Not unlike fortunes in cricket.

And yet, you could say with a fair amount of conviction that India starts the strong favourite in the T20 Women’s World Cup against Pakistan at Edgbaston.

No doubt an India-Pakistan rivalry on a cricket field attracts unparalleled attention and the teams battle bitterly. Of late, however, the Indian men have been far too dominant.

The Indian women have always been even more ruthless against their rivals across the border. They should be hoping they would score a convincing win against Pakistan that will give them a perfect start to their campaign.

For an India-Pakistan match, now that the two countries play only on neutral grounds, you could not have hoped for a better venue than Birmingham. Your cab driver could well likely be a Pakistani if not an Indian.

No dearth of support

So expect a lot of noise, right through the match. Stiff upper lips and gentle applause not for these folks, thank you.

Pakistan may not, by any stretch of imagination, be India’s strongest rival in Group A, but the team cannot afford to take it lightly. In the Group of Death, featuring Australia and South Africa, the Women in Blue have to begin well.

The warm-up match and before that the three-match T20I series against England may not have gone quite according to the plans for the Indians, but there have been some positives. Richa Ghosh’s brilliant knock that brought them close to the win in the warm-up game could not have been timed better: in the lower-order that lacks firepower, she is crucial; and the 22-year-old is one of the best finishers in the game.

Yastika Bhatia has also looked good on her return from injury and she offers another option in a batting line-up that oozes class, in the form of Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues and Harmanpreet. As for bowling, India has a good mix of seam and spin.

For Pakistan, there was an injury scare after the training session for captain Fatima Sana. She said she was hopeful of playing. Pakistan needs her to play: the team trails India 3-13 in T20Is overall.