T20 World Cup: Harmanpreet Kaur to lead a settled India squad on yet another quest for the elusive world title

There have been a few close misses, and heartbreaks galore in recent years. And once again, Harmanpreet Kaur has been tasked with leading India’s quest to end the wait for an elusive senior world title in the women’s game. On Tuesday, the Board of Control for Cricket in India named the 15-member squad for the ICC T20 World Cup, a tournament that has been shifted from Bangladesh to the United Arab Emirates.

India’s World Cup squads in the recent past have usually been associated with controversial selection (or non-selection) calls but the current unit has a settled look, and there are no surprises on paper. The only change from the squad that played the Asia Cup recently was the return of Yastika Bhatia, with an asterisk next to her name. The stylish left-hander, who last turned out for India during the Bangladesh tour in April has been missing in action because of an injury to her left knee. But her return, subject to clearing a fitness test, solidifies an area India have struggled to fill in the lead-up to the World Cup: a No 3 batter.

One other player in the 15 with a fitness test to be cleared is Shreyanka Patil, with the off-spinning all-rounder suffering an injury during the Asia Cup. But the youngster would be hoping to hit the ground running just as she did after a mini-injury break during the WPL season this year, after which she bounced back to win the Purple Cap in RCB’s title-winning campaign.

Smriti Mandhana in action. (FILE)

Apart from those two, the rest of the squad is on expected lines, with the selectors continuing to keep faith in the likes of Hemalatha Dayalan, Sajana Sajeevan, and Asha Sobhana. The batting line-up almost picks itself on most days, with Smriti Mandhana’s form in 2024 a major plus for the side.

The pace attack comprises of Pooja Vastrakar, Renuka Singh Thakur, and Arundhati Reddy, while the main spin options are Deepti Sharma, Shreyanka, Asha and Radha Yadav, who made her recent comeback to the India fold after a good outing in the WPL for Delhi Capitals. While Harmanpreet will have plenty of options to choose from in the attack, India will have to find ways to pick up regular wickets, an aspect that saw them lose the Asia Cup final against Sri Lanka.

Indeed, that defeat should act as a reality check for India as they are set to face Sri Lanka once more in the group stage at the World Cup. India find themselves in arguably the tougher of the two pools, along with Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka in Group A. While there is a case to be made that India would have been more familiar with conditions in Bangladesh, having played in Sylhet only earlier this year, the move to UAE levels the playing field.

“We have always done well in the past as well, and hopefully, this time we will break that final barrier and go all the way,” Harmanpreet told PTI. “We have not played much cricket in the UAE. However, the conditions in the UAE are going to be similar to those in India. We will see how they play out and try to adjust ourselves to the conditions as soon as possible.”

Gauging the conditions quickly will be paramount, as any slip-up in the group stage is bound to be costly, especially in the presence of Australia, who come into the tournament as outright favourites. They might be tackling a World Cup without Meg Lanning’s leadership this time around, but after three straight titles and a squad that’s the envy of the cricketing world, it would take a brave person to bet against their four-peat.

But just often enough, India have had Australia under trouble. That semifinal last year where Harmanpreet was leading the charge before a run out that broke her heart and India’s chase, must still rankle. It was one of the many instances in the last 7 years (since the ODI World Cup final in 2017) where India have come close to a global title but found ways to miss out. Under head coach Amol Muzumdar, Harmanpreet’s side will once again be in the mix, and they’d hope their matchwinners come to the fore.

The tournament will begin on October 3 at Sharjah with Bangladesh taking on Scotland in the afternoon fixture followed by the one between Sri Lanka and Pakistan. A day later, India will play their opener under lights against New Zealand at Dubai International Cricket Stadium, which is also scheduled to host the final on October 20. The top two teams from each Group will play the second placed team from the opposite Group. Semi-final 1 will be held in Dubai on 17 October and Semi-final 2 in Sharjah on 18 October. If India advances to the Semi-finals, they will play in semi-final 1.

India squad:

Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Smriti Mandhana (VC), Shafali Verma, Deepti Sharma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh (wk), Yastika Bhatia (wk)*, Pooja Vastrakar, Arundhati Reddy, Renuka Singh Thakur, Dayalan Hemalatha, Asha Sobhana, Radha Yadav, Shreyanka Patil*, Sajana Sajeevan.

Travelling Reserves: Uma Chetry (wk), Tanuja Kanwer, Saima Thakor.

Non-Travelling Reserves: Raghvi Bist, Priya Mishra.

(*subject to fitness clearance)

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