India Women's Cricket Set to Make History at ICC World Cup 2025
- Harmanpreet Kaur aims to lead India to their first ICC Women’s World Cup title, buoyed by home crowd support and recent strong performances.
- Smriti Mandhana highlights a calm, focused team mindset and rigorous preparations, including camps and international tours ahead of the tournament.
- Jemimah Rodrigues credits the Women’s Premier League for boosting confidence and providing young talent like Kranti Gaud with international opportunities.
India’s women’s cricket captain Harmanpreet Kaur, opener Smriti Mandhana, and middle-order batter Jemimah Rodrigues have expressed strong optimism ahead of the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025, which will be hosted in India. With a solid foundation of recent successes and a growing belief within the team, they are determined to secure India’s first senior ICC trophy.
Harmanpreet Kaur, leading India in her maiden Women’s World Cup as captain, emphasized the special motivation of playing in front of the home crowd. Speaking at the ‘50 Days To Go’ event held in Mumbai, Kaur recalled her debut World Cup experience and said, “The plan is the same as my first ODI World Cup. I want to enjoy my cricket, but playing in front of the home crowd is always special”. She is hopeful the team can break the longstanding final barrier and clinch the much-awaited silverware.
Reflecting on the team’s morale, Kaur said, “The confidence is very high. The kind of cricket we’ve played over the last couple of years gives us a lot of confidence”. This confidence stems from several key performances, including their notable series win in England.
Opener Smriti Mandhana echoed Kaur’s sentiments about the evolving mindset within Indian women’s cricket. She noted that over the past two to three years, the team has developed a calm and focused approach. “There’s a calmness with which I want to go about on the field. Our whole team is heading in that direction”, Mandhana said during the event. She highlighted the team’s emphasis on preparation and execution rather than chasing specific milestones. “Whenever we’ve done well on the field, everything else has taken care of itself”, Mandhana added.
Preparations for the World Cup are in full swing, including training camps and international tours. Mandhana mentioned an upcoming tour before the tournament, signaling the team’s dedication to being battle-ready. “We’ve had a preparation camp, an England tour, and one more tour ahead of the World Cup. That’s the only thing we are thinking about”.
Jemimah Rodrigues, an integral middle-order batter, credited the Women’s Premier League (WPL) for boosting the confidence and readiness of younger players in the squad. Rodrigues pointed to 22-year-old pace bowler Kranti Gaud, who emerged as India’s leading wicket-taker in the recent England ODI series, as a prime example of the WPL’s positive impact. “What the WPL has done is give youngsters a platform to perform and get into the Indian team,” Rodrigues said. “There’s not as much pressure as on international debut. Kranti is fearless, and that attitude pushes each one of us”.
The event also featured former India captain Mithali Raj, who led the team in the previous World Cup edition. She expressed confidence in the current team’s potential, highlighting their impressive performances over the past year. “The way the team has been doing in both ODIs and T20Is, including a wonderful series win in England, shows their strength”, Raj said. “With their confidence and playing the home World Cup, I think nothing could be better”.
As India prepares to host one of the biggest events in women’s cricket, the team’s blend of experienced leaders and fearless youngsters is fueling hopes for historic success.
