India are set to go on a rollercoaster ride of the Women's T20 World Cup from October 3. A ride that can propel them to immortality. A ride that can write a new chapter in the history of women's cricket.
When 15 Indian women will take the field in the UAE, they will be carrying billions of hopes on their shoulders, with one common aim - to shoulder the monkey off their backs. To break the jinx, to win a World Cup, which no senior Indian women's team has done to date. Only Shafali Verma knows what it feels like to win a World Cup for India as she lifted the U19 crown as captain in 2023, a little before the senior women's team suffered a semifinal exit in the T20 World Cup.
This time around, the Women in Blue look to break the hoodoo. Indian captain Harmanpreet Kaur, who has played in all T20 World Cups since its inception in 2009, feels this is the best Indian team that is going for the World Cup. "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," an upbeat Harmanpreet said in her pre-departure press conference.
Does the Indian team has enough in it to go all the way? Let's analyse the Indian squad first.
Experience and youth go hand-in-hand
12 of the 15 main squad members of the team have had the experience of playing in a World Cup. Only Shreyanka Patil, Asha Shobhana and S Sajana come into this tournament without a World Cup behind them. But the experienced ones are some of the best players the country has produced.
Additionally, some of them go into the tournament with form and runs behind them. Smriti Mandhana had a sensational run recently when she became the first Indian woman to have hit back-to-back centuries in the ODI format. She hit three centuries in 12 days - two in ODIs and one in a Test in late June 2024.
Deepti Sharma has taken her T20 batting to a different level now. While she has been under scrutiny for her scoring rate for much of her career, Deepti has now taken her strike rate a couple of notches higher with impressive performances in the second edition of the WPL and the Hundred 2024. She struck 289 runs in the Women's Hundred at a rate of 126.75 and helped London Spirit win the title with a six in a clutch moment in the final. She batted at 136.57 in the WPL 2024 as well.
Indian cricketer Poonam Yadav, who is also the country's highest wicket-taker in T20 World Cups, heaped praise on Deepti, saying she can be promoted up the order. "Spin department has been doing very well. Deepti Sharma has started batting so well. Her performance in BBL and 100's in England was fantastic. She should be promoted in the batting order," Poonam told India TV.
But...what about game time?
One major thing which is not on the side of the Indian women's team going is game practice ahead of the showpiece event. The last time the Indian women's team took the cricketing field was two months ago in the Asia Cup final when they surprisingly went down to Sri Lanka on July 28.
But the team had a good training camp in Bengaluru where the players worked on a key issue - fielding - and also played intra-squad matches to hone their skills. "If you ask for game time, we have ticked that box. And, we played some very competitive games. There were different oppositions, there were different skill sets that were chosen for those particular games. So as far as game time is concerned, I think we are on it, " India head coach Amol Muzumdar said in a press conference, brushing aside any thoughts of no game time.
India worked on their fielding, which has been an Achilles heel for the Women in Blue. They dropped two catches in the Asia Cup final and have been sloppy on the field several times. The Women in Blue will need to rectify it and ensure minimum hiccups in the World Cup.
Do India have a chance in this World Cup?
In short, yes, they do have a chance of winning the World Cup. They possess a strong batting line-up featuring the likes of Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Harmanpreet Kaur, Jemimah Rodrigues and Richa Ghosh.
Captain Harmanpreet is India's second-highest run-scorer in T20 World Cups and has her eyes set on the top-ranked Mithali Raj. The bowling front has sharp teeth too with Pooja Vastrakar, Arundhati Reddy and Renuka Singh being the pace-trio. The spin line-up is robust too. Indian spinners are very mingy and lethal at the same time.
The spin attack features Radha Yadav, Deepti Sharma, fit-again Shreyanka Patil, Asha Shobana and S Sajana. Radha is also the second-highest wicket-taker for India in T20 World Cups, only behind Poonam Yadav.
But India might not be the outright favourites. They have not been consistent in their performances in the build-up to the tournament. Since December 2023, India have hosted England, Australia and South Africa in addition to playing Bangladesh on an away tour.
India lost the 20-over series to England and Australia by a similar margin of 2-1 before handing Bangladesh a 5-0 drubbing away from home. They then hosted South Africa before the Asia Cup and could play a 1-1 stalemate against the Proteas at home with one match getting washed out.
They have faced heartbreaks in the tournament several times. They have been semifinalists five times and runners-up once in eight editions so far. Poonam believes the Indian team now has sports psychologist Mugdha Bavare which should help the team overcome this hurdle. "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 said.
The issue of No.3 and overreliance on bigwigs
India's batting mostly revolves around the big wigs - Mandhana, Harmanpreet Kaur, Shafali Verma and Jemimah Rodrigues. The team lacks firepower in the middle order and there is overreliance on the bigwigs. Richa Ghosh seems to be the only hitter apart from Shafali and Harmanpreet.
Also, India have tried and tested several batters at No. 3 since Jemimah Rodrigues left the role in April this year to play at No.5. Harmanpreet went with Dayalan Hemalatha, Yastika Bhatia and Uma Chetry at the one-down spot after this but there is seemingly not a clear answer to this place. During the pre-departure conference, India head coach Amol Muzumdar kept his cards close to his chest when asked about the position. "Our top six is the best. Their styles and mannerisms are different. Number three, we have identified but we will reveal that when eleven is announced. In T20s, number three sets game the up, in any form actually, " Muzumdar said in the presser.
Key players to look out for
For India to be in the top contenders, several players will have to stand up. Captain Harmanpreet needs no teaching on experience. She came very close to taking India in the final in 2023 and might want to correct it now.
Then there is Deepti 2.0. She is extremely economical with the ball and is India's leading wicket-taker in T20Is with 131 scalps to her name. She has now shown intent in her batting and that adds the extra edge needed in the middle order, depending if she continues this run.
Shreyanka Patil is a revelation with the ball. She has turned the heads in the WPL. She has 19 wickets to her name in 15 matches and is quicker through the air with the ability to put enough revs to outthink the batters. Indians would hope for Mandhana to carry the form she was in a few months ago. Back then whenever she was taking the field, a fifty or a hundred was coming very frequently.
India would look to clear the first hurdle in Group A, which also features Australia, Pakistan, New Zealand and Sri Lanka. Cricketer Poonam also predicted the four semifinalists. As told by the spinner to India TV, the four semifinalists would be - India, Australia, England and South Africa.
The Women in Blue will be banking on the experience and guile of the likes of Harmanpreet and Mandhana but they have young stars in the form of Richa Ghosh, Shreyanka, Yastika, Shafali and Pooja. All these players can turn the tide in India's favour and they would be hoping just that as Harmanpreet and Co. look to break the World Cup jinx.
