With the Women’s T20 World Cup to be held in October later this year, India, alongside all other women’s cricket teams of the world, is looking to build up a perfect squad to increase their chances in the Cup. Especially after the dominating performance of the Men in Blue, the Women in Blue would look to pin their hopes on a title clinch.
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A peek into India’s preparations ahead of the T20 World Cup 2024
India’s performance in Women’s T20 World Cup 2023
The Women’s T20 World Cup was hosted by the Protea women and the CSA in 2023. The Aussie woman and the English woman topped their respective groups and played in the semi-finals against the Indian and South African sides.
India women fought a neck-to-neck battle with the Aussie women in the first semi-final, where the Women in Blue faced a narrow backlash as they lost by just 5 runs despite the initial heroics from Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur and Jemimah Rodrigues. This was a major upset caused to the Women and Blue, which seemed to have strengthened their morale since.
India women’s performance in T20Is since World Cup 2023
India women, after the T20 World Cup semi-final exit, tried to strengthen up their squad for the shortest format of the game. After winning a series against Bangladeshi women, Indian women went on to win the Asian Championship in 2023.
However, playing against the heavyweights, Indian women have not produced something very special, as they have lost two repetitive home series to England and Australia.
Once again in a bilateral series against the underdogs Bangladesh series, India women emerged victorious with a 5-0 win over the side. With the Protea women visiting the hosts, Indian Women, this will be the Indian women’s last dig at their T20 World Cup preparations against a major side, one that played against Australia women in the World Cup finals of 2023.
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India Women’s Top 3 Batting Preferences
Harmanpreet Kaur
The Indian skipper doesn’t seem to age, as she keeps on getting better with every approaching year. The batter underperformed at the World Cup in South Africa, which was a major setback to the India batting order that led to their failure in the cup.
However, Indian women would hope their veteran batter hits prime form before the World Cup approaches in Bangladesh later this year.
Shefali Verma
India’s youngest batter, in short, the dynamite of the India women’s cricket team, has batted as per the format demands. Her absence of form and low strike rate were a huge concern for the Women in Blue in the previous edition of the tournament.
Verma’s ability to hit the ball long has been lauded by many greats of the game, as she brings great power-hitting options to the India squad alongside WK-Bat, Richa Ghosh, who is often known to play an explosive hand in the Indian innings.
Smriti Mandhana
No doubt she is one of the most established batters in the world and one of the greatest to have featured for India in recent times. Mandhana was also India’s women’s highest run-getter in the last World Cup, following which she has also kept up with her great form in the format.
Mandhana has been very dominant in the limited format of the game, in the recent series against South Africa. Her captivating form and presence will be required for team India to fancy their chances at the Cup in October later this year.
India Women’s Top 3 Bowling Choices
India Women’s biggest strength has been their great bowling prowess; however, that was their biggest failure when the previous T20 World Cup was taken into consideration.
Shreyanka Patil
The young Indian all-rounder has been a great performer in the WPL 2024 and was a major reason behind RCB women’s title-clinching in 2024. Patil is entrusted with a new role in the Indian women’s squad, as she will be their strike bowler ahead of the T20 World Cup.
Deepti Sharma
India’s veteran all-rounder has been a constant performer for the team in every format of the game. Often considered one of the finest all-rounders in the world, Deepti is often relied on for her dominance with the ball. Especially with the World Cup played under sub-continent conditions, these spinners will be expected to lead India’s bowling.
Renuka Singh
India’s first-choice bowler with the new ball has been Renuka for quite some time. She has been a great asset with the new ball for the Women in Blue. Though she has lacked some great form recently and even failed to perform in the WPL, she remains one of India’s women’s most terrific bowling options.
Her form against the South African women in the home series might seal her fate for the T20 World Cup, as India is looking forward to a bowler to lead their attack.