India is expected to face a tough task when they take on hosts England on the opening day of the ICC Women's World Cup cricket tournament on Saturday.
India will bank on the experience of Mithali Raj, the world's second highest-capped batter behind Charlotte Edwards of England with 177 women's ODIs to her name.
The first stage of the tournament will see the eight contenders battle it out in a round-robin format where every team plays each other once.
Mithali has an impressive record at the World Cup with an average of 60.83 and the highest score of 103 not out which she registered against Pakistan at the previous edition in 2013.
The 34-year-old middle-order batter will aim to continue her fine record in the game's showpiece tournament as seven-time semi-finalists India aims to reach the final for the first time.
Appearing in her fifth World Cup, Mithali has a total of 22 outings so far and her experience will prove to be valuable for the Indians.
"Our first target will be to reach the semi-finals, but for that, you need to be able to play good cricket throughout the tournament and have good momentum," Mithali said in a statement.
Harmanpreet, playing her third World Cup, is a toast of world cricket with her swashbuckling style and part-time off-spin. She has the distinction of notching up 107 runs against England in 2013— the highest score by an Indian in a World Cup.
In the bowling department, India will depend mainly on veteran speedster Jhulan Goswami, who is playing her fourth World Cup.
Jhulan, the highest wicket-taker in the world in limited-overs formats, will be ably supported by left-arm spinner Ekta Bisht who is currently ranked at the sixth position in the International Cricket Council (ICC) rankings.
The Indians are in good form, having thrashed Sri Lanka by 109 runs in their warm-up match. They are, however, expected to face a tough challenge from England.
The English have won six matches of the overall nine encounters between the two teams since India debuted in the second edition of the World Cup in 1978.
The Indian girls registered their first win against England in the third encounter between the two sides at the 1982 World Cup in New Zealand.
England has been impressive whenever they have hosted the ICC Women's World Cup, winning the competition on both the previous occasions in 1973 and 1993. They won their third title at the 2009 edition in Sydney.
The hosts, led by skipper Heather Knight, will be hoping that playing at home proves to be lucky once again as they bid for a fourth crown.
"It's going to be a brilliant tournament. The support we have had from the tournament, I think it's going to be the most visible and supported Women's World Cup we've had," Heather said in a statement.
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