Sport’s charm lies in unpredictability. That is a universal truth. Even for the Australian women’s cricket team.

It wasn’t quite so, until a couple of years ago.

For a long time in women’s cricket, ahead of an ICC World Cup the big question would be who Australia would play in the final. If not who Australia would beat in the final.

The Aussie women were that good. It was a gathering of some of the game’s all-time greats.

The Aussie women are still good. They start as most people’s favourites at the Women’s T20 World Cup, which gets underway in Birmingham on Friday, with England taking on Sri Lanka.

But, the current Australian side, the most rounded among all the 12, doesn’t have that aura of invincibility, which was the case when Meg Lanning led one of the best teams of all time in sport, not just cricket. There are at least four teams in contention for the title.

This promises to be not just bigger than the previous nine World Cups. It could also be the most watched one as well (more than two million viewed ICC’s streaming of the warm-up match between England and India).

This is also the most open World Cup in history. England, India, South Africa and New Zealand ensure as much. Any one of them could lift that ICC trophy at Lord’s on July 5.

It is not that Australia is in decline. Just look at Alyssa Healy’s replacement Georgia Voll. Or other youngsters like Annabel Sutherland and Phoebe Litchfield.

Australia is no longer the undisputed superpower because others have become stronger. New Zealand is the defending champion. India won the ODI World Cup at home last November, finally ending the agonising wait for a global title. South Africa contested the final of the last three ICC World titles, without winning any (so what is new, you might ask).

Of the five title contenders, one will bow out after the group stage. Australia, India and South Africa are all in Group A. In Group B, England — which should be desperate to regain the trophy it won at home in the first edition in 2009 – and New Zealand may have it easier, though the West Indies cannot be taken lightly; a team that has Hayley Matthews and Deandra Dottin can spring surprises.

Other stars ready to shine bright this England summer include India’s Smriti Mandhana, Harmanpreet Kaur and Jemimah Rodrigues; Australia’s Ellyse Perry, Ashleigh Gardner and Beth Mooney; South Africa’s Laura Wolvaardt and Shabnim Ismail; England’s Nat Sciver-Brunt and Lauren Bell; and New Zealand’s Sophie Devine and Amelie Kerr.

Devine is part of the Kiwi triumvirate – alongside Suzie Bates and Lea Tahuhu – who will end their international careers with this tournament. They represent a generation of female cricketers that had to depend on proper jobs to make a living. Like all but one of the present Netherlands team.

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.

India’s transition towards the next T20 World Cup cycle formally began on Saturday with Shreyas Iyer replacing Suryakumar Yadav as captain and teenage sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi earning a maiden call-up, decisions chief selector Ajit Agarkar suggested were driven equally by long-term planning and recent performances.

Shreyas’ elevation marks a significant turnaround in fortunes for the Mumbai batter, who last featured in a T20I in December 2023 and had narrowly missed selection for the recent World Cup campaign despite an impressive run in franchise cricket.

“We have seen what he has done over the last few years, leading different franchises,” Agarkar said here on Saturday. “He won [the IPL title] once, had a tougher season this year after a great start. He has seen everything that a captain possibly can. His own performances have been really good.

“He was quite close to getting into that T20 World Cup squad as well, but [with] Surya still there, there was no room for him. He in my opinion was a stand-out candidate with enough experience now. This will obviously be a different challenge.”

The change simultaneously brings an abrupt end to Suryakumar’s captaincy stint, and possibly international career. Less than three months after leading India to a successful T20 World Cup defence, the 35-year-old not only lost the captaincy but also his place in the squad.

“With regards to Surya, obviously it’s a tough one having just won the World Cup,” Agarkar admitted. “But as it happens, after most World Cups, we try and reassess what the best way forward is.

“Partly his own form, but also looking at the next two-year cycle or a little bit more than two years now till the next World Cup. We thought this was the best way forward.”

The other headline, unsurprisingly, belonged to 15-year-old Sooryavanshi, whose explosive IPL performances accelerated his entry into international cricket.

“He just has picked himself really,” Agarkar said. “With his performances, he has almost forced us to pick him with how well he has played. It’s not just this season. He obviously had a great start [to his IPL career] last season.

“And to back it up for a young kid in a competition that’s as competitive and has a high-pressure environment, and how explosive he can be and a game-changer that he can be… we have got high hopes of him.”

For India’s selectors, Saturday’s announcement was less about one squad and more about officially beginning another cycle.

At 25, Abhishek Sharma is already in his eighth season at Sunrisers Hyderabad. Having been traded to the franchise after just one season with Delhi Capitals in 2018, the southpaw from Punjab has acquired an imposing aura in orange, garnering the unconditional affection of a quintessentially easy-going Hyderabadi crowd with his daring stroke-play.

On Tuesday night (April 21, 2026), Abhishek’s stature at Sunrisers rose further as his second IPL hundred helped the side hammer his former franchise by 47 runs at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium.

Jasprit Bumrah, Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan and Hardik Pandya were the four Indians named in the ICC’s Team of 2026 T20 World Cup after their team coasted to a record third title.

Player of the Tournament Samson leads the winning quartet, after the opener’s 321 runs from just five innings.

Samson started the tournament outside of the Indian playing eleven but shone bright with Player of the Match performances against the West Indies and England before making the highest individual score in a Men’s T20 World Cup final with 89 against New Zealand on Sunday (March 8, 2026).

Kishan hit 317 runs – the fourth most of any player – as his performances across the top of the order anchored India’s batting performances with a huge strike rate of 193.29.

He produced a masterful 77 as an opener against Pakistan before adjusting to number three with important knocks against England and New Zealand, including a half-century in the final.

Pandya is the third Indian batter included, with the all-rounder recognised for his contribution with bat and ball. He scored two half-centuries with the bat and produced devastating spells when it mattered, including 52 off 28 against Namibia, while he also took nine wickets in all.

Bumrah is the fourth Indian player in the team, with the Player of the Match in the final recognised for his excellent bowling performances.

Bumrah finished as the tournament’s joint-leading wicket taker, with 14 from eight matches. He finished with figures of four for 15 in the final and posted an economy of 6.21 throughout the tournament.

The top of the order also includes Pakistan’s Sahibzada Farhan, who finished as the tournament’s top run-scorer with an aggregate of 383. That came at an average of 76.60 and was headlined by a pair of centuries, against Sri Lanka and Namibia.

ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 Team of the Tournament: 1. Sahibzada Farhan 2. Sanju Samson (wicketkeeper) 3. Ishan Kishan 4. Aiden Markram (captain) 5. Hardik Pandya 6. Will Jacks 7. Jason Holder 8. Jasprit Bumrah 9. Lungi Ngidi 10. Adil Rashid 11. Blessing Muzarabani 12th player: Shadley van Schalkwyk.

India pacer Arshdeep Singh has been fined 15% of his match fee for throwing the ball “aggressively and inappropriately” at New Zealand batter Daryl Mitchell during the final of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in Ahmedabad.

In addition, one demerit point has been added to Arshdeep’s disciplinary record, for whom it was the first offence in a 24-month period.

Arshdeep was found to have breached Article 2.9 of the International Cricket Council (ICC) Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to “throwing a ball (or any other item of cricket equipment) at or near a player in an inappropriate and/or dangerous manner during an International Match,” an ICC media release stated on Tuesday (March 10, 2026).

The incident occurred in the 11th over of New Zealand’s innings when Arshdeep fielded the ball on his follow-through and threw it aggressively, hitting the pads of the Black Caps vice-captain on Sunday (March 8, 2026).

India defeated New Zealand by 96 runs to become the first team to win three T20 World Cup titles. The Men in Blue also became the first side to successfully defend the title and win the tournament on home soil.

Arshdeep accepted the sanction proposed by Andy Pycroft of the ICC Elite Panel of Match Referees, eliminating the need for a formal hearing.

The charge was levelled by on-field umpires Richard Illingworth and Alex Wharf, third umpire Allahuddien Paleker and fourth umpire Adrian Holdstock.

Level 1 breaches carry a minimum penalty of an official reprimand, a maximum fine of 50 per cent of a player’s match fee, and one or two demerit points.

India clinched a historic third T20 World Cup title with a commanding win over New Zealand in Ahmedabad. Standout performances underlined India’s dominance, especially Sanju Samson’s remarkable run through the knockout stages.

But the final has also sparked debate. Was the batting-friendly pitch worthy of a World Cup summit clash? Should curators shape conditions to produce high-scoring spectacles, or does that undermine the balance between bat and ball? And how does Ahmedabad compare with iconic Indian venues like Wankhede or Eden Gardens when it comes to hosting cricket’s biggest matches?

EDITORIAL | ​Broad base: On India and the ICC T20 World Cup win

In this episode of In Focus, veteran cricket journalist Pradeep Magazine talks about India’s dominant campaign, the controversy around pitch preparation and the legacy of this champion side in the evolving landscape of world cricket.

Host: Reuben Joe Joseph

Guest: Pradeep Magazine, veteran cricket journalist and author

Edited by Sharada Venkatasubramnian

Listen to more In Focus podcasts:

Even during peak traffic hours along the banks of the Sabarmati, it rarely takes more than 90 minutes to travel the 60-odd kilometres between Nadiad and the Narendra Modi Stadium. This weekend, however, the small town is expected to see far more journeys to Ahmedabad — many hoping their favourite Nadiadi might help them secure a ticket to Sunday’s (March 8, 2026) Men’s T20 World Cup final and to wish him luck.

For Axar Patel, the occasion promises to be special for more than one reason. The allrounder will get a chance to play in front of his home crowd for the first time in this tournament after being left out of India’s two earlier matches in Ahmedabad.

“I have been desperately waiting for so long to play a big match at the home ground in front of the family,” Axar said after playing a key role in India’s semifinal win against England at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

“It’s a proud moment for me to play the World Cup final at my home ground. And it’ll also be the first time my son will watch me in action from the stadium, so that also matters a lot.”

Axar’s athleticism in the field proved crucial during England’s chase. His sprinting-backward-running catch to dismiss Harry Brook gave India early momentum, while a relay effort with Shivam Dube removed the dangerous Will Jacks after a blistering partnership with centurion Jacob Bethell.

Charging in from sweeper-cover, Axar completed the catch and lobbed the ball to Dube just before crossing the boundary rope — a moment that swung the match back India’s way.

“Today was kind of a day when the ball was chasing me,” Axar said.

“Harry Brook’s was personally tougher but if you look at the game situation and the manner in which the partnership had developed, to dismiss Jacks was critical, so it was special in that sense. It’s very difficult for me to choose but if you ask me personally, the Brook catch was tougher.”

New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner believes adaptability, not familiarity, will decide the first T20 World Cup semifinal against South Africa here on Wednesday.

“We’ve played a lot of cricket in these conditions over the years, whether on international tours or in the IPL. South Africa have as well,” Santner said.

“At this stage, it’s about assessing what’s in front of you on the day. Conditions can change quickly, and teams that adapt faster put themselves in a good position.”

Reflecting on the seven-wicket defeat to the Proteas in the group stage, Santner pointed to the PowerPlay as a key factor. “In Ahmedabad, they got away from us early. They have a lot of power through the order. It might not always be about bowling them out, it could be about getting through the overs. Maybe 180 is a good score instead of 220.”

About the Eden Gardens surface, he said: “There could be a role for both seamers and spinners. Whatever you do first, you have to do it well.”

Santner was unfazed about the underdog tag. “We’ve had that for a long time. It’s a one-off game now. We’re here now, and we back ourselves in one-off games against most teams”.