5 March - Tauranga - Pakistan Captain Bismah Maroof pre-match press conference

Bismah: Good evening everyone. We are less than four hours away from our first match, and we all are really excited and we had practice yesterday - the wickets looks good for the bat, and I'm really excited and hope we have a good match tomorrow. And I also want to express the sadness of my team and myself at the center and shocking demise of Shane Warne. He was a legend of the game, and he will be remembered forever. May he rest in peace.

Reporter: Best wishes for the tournament.

How are you seeing this challenge of facing India tomorrow? What do you think is going to be the key areas for Pakistan, just from facing India as an opponent in the first match tomorrow?

Bismah: We are well prepared and we had good practice sessions and good warm up games and I think the things we haven't done well in the last year, we have spoken about and it says whoever, you know, take the pressure well and plays well to their strength - the team will win. So yeah, we're hoping for a good match tomorrow.

Reporter: As an opponent how do you assess India strengths and what are the areas you're looking to target?

Bismah: I think they are very strong and good side- I really want my team to focus on our strengths and what we can do to our best potential and yes, we will focus on that.

Reporter: And just having watched the match yesterday, New Zealand versus West Indies - how good was it to see West Indies - upset, the pre match odds so to speak and what kind of confidence you gained from seeing that kind of a match yesterday?

Bismah: It was a really exciting match and I think they are very good. And it assists bowlers as well. And I think we will see very high scoring matches - and yes, I think the teams can upsell and we can expect that higher scoring matches in this World Cup.

Reporter: Pakistan won both warm up games, but the top order still needs to form a solid base like having a good partnership. What's your take on teams batting - is it still a concern for you?

Bismah: Yes we haven’t’ live up to the mark yet - we have spoken about that we haven’t scored much as the top order should, and I think because you know that – and we are hoping that in this World Cup as a batting unit, we can put up a good show.

Reporter: I just want to ask about the match between India and Pakistan in the 2017 World Cup where both the teams spinners had a great role to play. What do you think - The kind of - but since then, obviously, Diana Baig and Fatima Sana has broken through great strides for Pakistan. What do you think the kind of - how it would pan out tomorrow, given the conditions and where you are playing against India?

Bismah: I think yes - we have improved as a fast bowling unit, you know, especially Diana and Fatima Sana has come far away and I think we have gelled together and it's just that we have the right combination in our bowling that all the bowlers complement each other. And yes, it's just that batting. We're looking forward that if we can, you know put up a good show in batting, we really are not that – our balling can do well.

Reporter: You come in with a lot of experience personally fighting quality tournaments already - do the nerves get any easier the longer you play. How are you feeling personally at the moment?

Bismah: Yes, after I come back, it's looked like I'm making a debut again. But as a team, we're really looking forward. We had good practice sessions and warm up games. So we are hoping that we'll start on a win tomorrow.

Reporter: And just quickly given that experience from over a decade back now and watching yesterday's match here at the same venue where the West Indies surprised. Do you think that the overall talent across the eight teams has become a little bit tighter where the eighth team and the best team in the competition, it seems as if that's shrunk a little bit it's become a little bit tighter and does that make you more confident in you guys getting a result as well?

Bismah: The ICC has reduced championship matches, I think that has helped the games to get better and playing with the top teams give you confidence and the players have grown and over the years we have seen them - we've seen that the scoring rate in women’s game has improved. So yeah, I'm expecting that in this World Cup we can see a lot of up sides.

Reporter: You said that you expect high scores and that the chart looks good for batting, so you know on that front, what kind of conversations have you had with your bowlers in terms of putting plans together to stop that very strong Indian batting lineup?

Bismah: It's just stick to the basics and don't do extra and I think we have been doing well as a bowling unit and all the plans are clear to the bowlers and it's just execution on the day - how we can do that and hopefully we can do better tomorrow.

Reporter: You had to play - as in Pakistan women had to go through the qualifiers route because, you know, again, there was this forfeiture of points that took place, the cancellation of the India vs. Pakistan IWC - the championship series. **[Hindi 07:30]**there should be some kind of closure around what happens to these fixture and is it sort of unfair on the part of how things are handled. [HINDI] and not get direct qualification because of cancellation of that particular series.

Bismah: Of course, if we could have qualified it would be really good booster for our team. But having said that, yes we missed - that was a missed opportunity, against India - we couldn’t’ - we couldn't play against them because of certain reasons. But I think if we could have played it was very good for the subcontinent - the girls in the subcontinent, and now we are really looking forward in this World Cup. And we are really focused that we can put up a good show.

Reporter: Fatima Sana has been one of the biggest driving starts from the Pakistan side. So how did you see her role in the tournament opener against India? And also Could you comment upon her evolution ever since she entered the national side?

Bismah: I just wanted her to stick to the basics and I don't want to put up on her pressure that there's a lot of expectations on her. It's just she's a young kid, and we really want her to enjoy her game and express herself in the field.

Reporter: Pakistan, India men’s World Cup - how much has that result acts as an inspiration for the woman's team to try and achieve something similar tomorrow?

How much the victory of the Men’s World Cup against India and victory in the T20 World Cup is an inspiration for the Women’s side?

Bismah: Honestly. We haven't talked about that. But definitely it was a great victory. For us - we're focusing on our strengths, how we can do best with our potential and hopefully as a team, we can put up a good show tomorrow.

Reporter: So in the 2016 World T20 – Sana Mir lead your team to a very famous win over India. Does that win still inspire the team going into big matches like this one. And also Sana Mir would be here in the commentary box for this tournament, has she been talking to the group sharing some advice maybe?

Bismah: That memory definitely it’s in our mind and we know that on a day if we can play 100% of our potential, we can beat any team and it's just the same - we'll try to inculcate to our team and try to do it tomorrow as well. Sana - no, we haven't talked or meet with Sana yet.