Nasser Hussain makes big 'uneven playing field' claim as India beat Pakistan in Women's T20 World Cup: 'It's unfair'

Former England captain Nasser Hussain has said that teams like Pakistan face an unfair disadvantage when playing big teams like India after the Women in Blue registered another one-sided victory over their arch rivals in the Women's T20 World Cup opener of both the sides in Birmingham.

India defeated Pakistan by 64 runs with a clinical performance to kickstart their World Cup campaign on a high. Deepti Sharma picked up a career best 5-10 to bundle out the Pakistani side for 106 in 17 overs.

Earlier, a half-century from Smriti Mandhana and cameos from captain Harmanpreet Kaur and wicket-keeper Richa Ghosh had powered India to 170-6 in 20 overs.

Nasser Hussain's analysis on IND-W vs PAK-W

Analysing the game on Sky, Hussain said that the result of the match was already known before it even started.

"I'm being a bit harsh on Pakistan, actually. I sort of felt I knew the result before I turned up to the game," the former England captain said.

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He also flagged a concern with the structure of franchise cricket where stars from bigger nations get regularly signed while even quality players from smaller cricketing nations are ignored.

"You know, it's unfair, it's an uneven playing field. You look at the big sides & it's a bit self-perpetuating because they are playing more franchise cricket. They get better, and because they get better, their national teams get better. And because that happens, they play even more franchise cricket," Hussain said.

He further added, "So it's not fair for Bangladesh and Pakistan, whose players don't get the opportunity to go off and play in competitions like The Hundred. Marufa Akter from Bangladesh took wickets again yesterday, and Fatima Sana is an excellent cricketer. The world cricket and franchise leagues should be signing these players so that the competition is genuinely worldwide."

India play Netherlands in their next World Cup match on Wednesday while Pakistan face South Africa on the same day in their next fixture.