T20 World Cup: Can Harmanpreet & Co build their on ODI triumph in England?

The tag of being ODI world champions may bring additional pressure to Harmanpreet Kaur & Co when they begin their campaign in the T20 World Cup in June-July in England, but it’s also expected to give them a much-needed self belief. The 15-member squad named by BCCI has a chunk of the squad which won the 50-overs World Cup at home last November, with the only surprise of Amanjot Kaur being not there.

Replying to one of the early queries on her omission, Harmanpreet said at the media interaction in Mumbai on Saturday: “Amanjot is our key player but she is not available. She is away from cricket for 4-5 months now. It was difficult to find someone like her but we are trying. We have got Radha (Jadhav) back in the side and she is also an allrounder. It was hard to find Amanjot’s replacement but we are trying to balance the team.”

The best showing of Women in Blue in World T20 so far came in 2020 just before Covid shook the world when they finished runners up to the all conquering Australians in a one-sided final. The last edition in 2024, when the event had to be relocated to the UAE from Bangladesh at the eleventh hour due to the volatile political conditions in the neighbouring country, saw them exit from the group stages after only two wins.

India find themselves in the tougher of the two groups alongside Australia, South Africa, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Netherlands – with the marquee India vs Pakistan league game on 14 June. While the Pakistan women’s team is one of the weaker ones in Group 1, the match is expected to expected to whip up enough frenzy among the diaspora of both countries in the UK.

Spelling out her plans, Harmanpreet – who will be leading the country in her fifth World T20, said: “I feel that in T20s, powerplay is very important, if you are batting, you have to target runs. If you are bowling, you have to get a couple of wickets in that phase. We want to work very hard for the powerplay and also for the middle overs, as that also plays a big role. We have a plan and the learning which we got from SA.”

When asked about the recent 4-1 drubbing at the hands of South Africa in a bilateral series, Harmanpreet said that one can’t judge her team just on one series defeat. “This was the only series where our bowling didn't click, as we had won an away series before that in Australia. However, we had a lot of learnings there and we know how to improve as a team. We are going to have another camp and we will try to fix all our issues.”

The skipper will be supported in the batting line-up by key players in deputy Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues and the hard hitting keeper-batter Richa Ghosh while the bowling responsibilities will largely rest on the shoulders of Deepti Sharma and Renuka Singh.

India squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (captain), Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Bharti Fulmali, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh, Shree Charani, Yastika Bhatia, Nandani Sharma, Arundhati Reddy, Renuka Singh, Kranti Gaud, Shreyanka Patil, Radha Yadav.

Groupings: Group 1: Australia, South Africa, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Netherlands
Group 2: West Indies, England, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Ireland, Scotland