India will be eager to end the long wait for the title.
| Photo Credit: BCCI
Some images linger.
Like Kapil Dev holding the World Cup aloft at the Lord’s balcony in 1983. Like Harmanpreet Kaur teasing her teammates before letting them touch the trophy after the Women’s World Cup final at Mumbai’s D.Y. Patil Stadium last November.
‘Kapil’s Devils’ paved the way for an eventual Indian takeover of the global cricket economy, apart from making the country a superpower on the ground. Harmanpreet’s brave women have given India’s aspiring young female cricketers a moment to cherish, a right to dream.
How Harmanpreet would love to emulate Kapil: win a World Cup at cricket’s most iconic venue. She is unlikely to be satisfied with anything less than that this English summer. India is one of the favourites at the ICC T20 Women’s World Cup starting at Birmingham on Friday.
India cannot afford to look far into the tournament at the moment, though. For, they are in the Group of Death, along with Australia and South Africa. Remember, only two teams can advance to the semifinals.
The Women in Blue may have lost their last two T20I series, in South Africa and England, but not so long ago, they had triumphed in Australia and crushed Sri Lanka 5-0. No one will doubt their class, especially in batting.
India, in fact, will need those batters, especially at the top of the order, to get going, play big shots, and come up with significant scores. The team isn’t blessed with the sharpest or the most experienced of bowling attacks in the competition.
Neither it could claim to have a large number of all-rounders, notwithstanding the redoubtable Deepti Sharma. How India misses the chirpy, smiling, wisecracking Amanjot Kaur, who played an important role in India’s World Cup win. The superstar-studded Indian batting is more than capable of making enough runs so that the team doesn’t depend too much on the lower order. Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma are among the most feared pair of openers in the game.
Smriti may not be going into the World Cup in perfect form, but her experience and success in England should come in handy. She has sparkled at The Hundred and last year scored a 62-ball 112 against England, her first T20I century.
Like Smriti, Jemimah Rodrigues also is familiar with English conditions and she should want to replicate her heroics at the ODI World Cup for India. Harmanpreet can win you matches from difficult situations, while the return from injury of the elegant Yaskita Bhatia is good news — she impressed in the three-match series against England — but the team needs Richa Ghosh to deliver in the death overs.
When it comes to bowling, Renuka Singh should relish the English conditions. Kranti Goud can cause trouble with her pace, while Nandni Sharma looks extremely promising, with her wicket-taking abilities. Shree Charani, who has taken little time to make an impact on the global stage, Shreyanka Patil and Radha Yadav are among the spin options. And, of course, there is the golden arm of Shafali.
Published – June 10, 2026 11:48 pm IST
