India is set to embark on a thrilling journey in the Women’s T20 World Cup commencing October 3rd. This competition presents an opportunity for the Women in Blue to achieve a monumental breakthrough and secure their place in the annals of cricket history. As 15 Indian women take the field in the UAE, they will carry the aspirations of billions, all with the united objective of breaking the jinx and winning the World Cup—a feat that has eluded the senior Indian women’s team thus far. Shafali Verma has tasted World Cup success, having led the U19 team to victory in 2023, just before the senior team experienced a semifinal exit in the same format.
This time, the Indian team is determined to break the cycle of near-misses. Team captain Harmanpreet Kaur, a veteran who has played in every T20 World Cup since its inception in 2009, is optimistic about the squad’s potential. “If I talk about this team, we have a few players who have been playing for a long time and they know their roles really well. I can say that this is the best team we are going for a T20 World Cup with,” she stated in a pre-departure press conference.
Let’s delve into the composition and readiness of the Indian squad. Out of the 15 squad members, 12 have World Cup experience. Newcomers Shreyanka Patil, Asha Shobhana, and S Sajana lack this exposure, but the seasoned players more than make up for it in skill and experience. These include some of the nation’s finest talents who are stepping onto the global stage in excellent form.
Smriti Mandhana is one such player, coming off an exceptional series where she became the first Indian woman to hit back-to-back centuries in the ODI format. She scored three centuries in just 12 days across ODIs and a Test in June 2024. Deepti Sharma, another cornerstone of the team, has elevated her T20 batting significantly. Criticized earlier for her scoring rate, Deepti has turned the tables with standout performances in the Women’s Hundred and the WPL 2024, striking at 126.75 and 136.57 respectively.
Poonam Yadav, India’s highest wicket-taker in T20 World Cups, praised Deepti’s progress and suggested promoting her up the batting order. “Spin department has been doing very well. Deepti Sharma has started batting so well. Her performance in BBL and Hundred in England was fantastic.
. She should be promoted in the batting order,” Poonam opined.
However, a significant challenge the Indian team faces is the lack of match practice. Their last official game was the Asia Cup final two months ago, where they suffered a surprise loss to Sri Lanka. To address this, the team underwent an intensive training camp in Bengaluru, focusing on fielding—a long-standing weakness. India’s head coach Amol Muzumdar downplayed concerns about lack of game time. “If you ask for game time, we have ticked that box. And, we played some very competitive games. So as far as game time is concerned, I think we are on it,” Muzumdar asserted.
India boasts a robust batting line-up featuring Mandhana, Verma, Harmanpreet, Jemimah Rodrigues, and Richa Ghosh. Harmanpreet is close to becoming India’s top scorer in T20 World Cups, a record presently held by Mithali Raj. On the bowling front, the pace attack is formidable with Pooja Vastrakar, Arundhati Reddy, and Renuka Singh. The spin department is equally potent, led by Radha Yadav, Deepti Sharma, and newcomers like Shreyanka Patil, whose stats in the WPL have been impressive.
Despite the evident talent and potential, India has not been consistent leading up to the tournament. They managed a 5-0 clean sweep against Bangladesh but suffered narrow losses to England and Australia and drew a series against South Africa.
The burden of past failures also looms large, with India often faltering at the semifinal stage, except for a solitary runner-up finish in eight editions. This time, however, they have the support of sports psychologist Mugdha Bavare, who aims to fortify the team’s mental resilience. “India’s problem was in semifinals and final where we used to slip up, but this team under Harmanpreet and coach has got sports psychologist Mughda, who has worked a lot on the mental aspect of the game and should be of great help,” Poonam Yadav explained.
India’s fortunes will rely heavily on their star players. Mandhana’s recent form, Harmanpreet’s experience, Deepti’s dual skill set, and Shreyanka’s emerging talent will be critical. Group A, which includes formidable teams like Australia, Pakistan, New Zealand, and Sri Lanka, poses the first challenge.
The Women in Blue will lean on their blend of experience and youthful exuberance from players like Richa Ghosh, Shreyanka, Yastika, Verma, and Pooja to navigate this journey. As they aim to break the World Cup jinx, the entire nation will rally behind them, hoping to witness history in the making.
