KAUR OF DUTY – India’s captain leads the charge for first T20 trophy

Having won last year’s ODI World Cup at home, India are full of confidence. 

They come into the tournament ranked third in the world but, surprisingly, have never won the T20 World Cup.

Last time out, in 2024, they didn’t reach the knockout stage, finishing with two wins and two losses. But they were in a group with Australia and the eventual champions, New Zealand.

This time, they have Australia and South Africa to contend with – and one of those huge names won’t make it out of the group. 

There is plenty of talent in this India side. They have three of the top ten highest-ranked batters in Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, and captain Harmanpreet Kaur. 

Deepti Sharma is among the leading all-rounders in the format, and her experience will be valuable with both bat and ball.

Earlier in the year, India got a T20I win against South Africa, though they lost the series 4-1. In the build up to the World Cup, they’ve had T20I wins against England and the West Indies, and are more than capable of beating anyone on the day.

Clare McEwen asked commentator and broadcaster Nikki Chaudhuri about India’s chances this time around.

India seem to underperform at the T20 World Cup? Is that fair?

I think that’s fair to say but I also think that they’ve come on leaps and bounds, especially with the Women’s Premier League. The WPL has really allowed players to come in and flourish in the shorter format.

And they’ll be riding on the momentum of the Women’s World Cup last year.

At the top of the order, watching Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana build those partnerships and the way they complement each other… Shafali Verma is the hard hitter in that pair while Smriti Mandhana takes her time a little bit but churns out the runs.

She’s one of those players that if you’re on the field you won’t realise the damage until later – and by the time you do realise, you’re under the pump, she’s done the damage.

So that’s a really important opening partnership for India.

Riding on the momentum of that World Cup, a lot of these players have also had exposure to franchise cricket.

They’ve been able to go around the world, brush up on parts of their game, and pick up on skills from other internationals.

I think this is so important – getting that diverse understanding of the game and playing in different conditions – because they will be coming from very different conditions.

They’re used to much slower, lower wickets, depending on where they’re from and which part of the country they play in.

So it will be different for them but I think they have what it takes. 

It just depends on the impact the middle order is going to have and when they come in.

A few early wickets for India might just be too detrimental because then you’re expecting the likes of Richa Ghosh to step up and – not that she can’t – but they’re very specialised in their roles. 

You want to have Richa Ghosh come in and do her quick-fire 30 off 16. But if India were 20 for three, then to be adaptive in those situations…I think that will probably be their bigger challenge.

India’s anchor: captain Kaur

Captain Harmanpreet Kaur has played in every T20 World Cup since the competition began in 2009.

She leads the team for the fifth time at a T20 World Cup and brings a wealth of experience and runs. A solid performer with a batting average of 30, Kaur leads from the front.

When asked by Isa Guha at a recent T20 media event about how India were feeling after winning last year’s ODI World Cup, Kaur said:

“Yeah, it was a great moment for all of us. We were waiting for that moment for so many years and good to see that after years, hard work paid off.

“This tournament is equally important and everyone is shaping up very well and hopefully we will play our best cricket.”

Kaur was also asked how different the challenge of T20 cricket is and how important it will be for India’s openers to get them off to a good start:

“T20 cricket is all about adapting as soon as possible because it’s fast and you don’t have that much time.

“Yeah, they’re very important, world-class players. 

“They always set the tone for us and, hopefully, they do the job for us in this World Cup too.” 

Photos: ICC, Instagram, Clare McEwen

India T20 WWC fixtures:

Sunday 14th June 14.30: v Pakistan, Edgbaston

Wednesday 17th June 14:30: v Netherlands, Headingley

Sunday 21st June 14:30: v South Africa, Old Trafford

Thursday 25th June 14:30: v Bangladesh, Old Trafford

Sunday 28th June 14.30: v Australia, Lord’s

All matches live on Sky Sports.

For full fixture and where to watch details, check out our tournament preview.
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