Smriti Mandhana is the mainstay of the Indian batting.
| Photo Credit: SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR
The Women in Blue have an excellent opportunity to do what the Men in Blue could not do two years ago: win a World Cup at home. The men had a perfect campaign until they were undone in the final by Australia and an Ahmedabad slow-turner. The women too should be wary of the defending champion from Down Under.
It is not just the home advantage that Harmanpreet Kaur’s women have. They are in form, too, as they dream of becoming the first ever women’s World champions from India.
On their last tour, they had not merely beaten England, but made history, too. And just this month, they ended a worrying losing streak against Australia; and they then threatened to pull off a miracle, chasing 413 in the final ODI.
Smriti Mandhana spearheaded that chase at New Delhi with her second successive hundred in the series, and she had scored a fifty in the first game. If her incredible run continues at the World Cup too, the host should be looking at some big totals.
Dream duo
Smriti has struck a fabulous opening partnership with Pratika Rawal, who has had a great start to her international career. She has made the Indian top-order solid, though too much is made of her strike-rate, which, at 84.95, doesn’t pale much in comparison with others in the batting line-up. Harmanpreet, who reserves her best for the grand stages, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harleen Deol and Richa Ghosh too promise runs.
The Indian attack is bolstered by the return from injury of seamer Renuka Singh and she has the young Kranti Goud for support. There are plenty of options in spin in Deepti Sharma, Radha Yadav, Sneh Rana and N. Shree Charani.
Deepti’s runs in the middle order too could count. India should also be hoping seaming all-rounder Amanjot Kaur is raring to go.
The squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (Capt.), Smriti Mandhana, Pratika Rawal, Harleen Deol, Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh, Deepti Sharma, Amanjot Kaur, Radha Yadav, Kranti Gaud, Renuka Singh, Arundhati Reddy, Sneh Rana, N. Shree Charani and Uma Chetry.
India’s fixtures: Sept. 30: Sri Lanka (Guwahati); Oct. 5: Pakistan (Colombo); Oct. 9: South Africa (Visakhapatnam); Oct. 12: Australia (Visakhapatnam); Oct. 19: England (Indore); Oct. 23: New Zealand (Navi Mumbai); Oct. 26: Bangladesh (Navi Mumbai).
Published – September 28, 2025 08:50 pm IST
