With the ICC Women’s World Cup 2025, scheduled for later this year in India, former Indian cricketer and women’s team coach W V Raman has made a compelling recommendation for the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) ahead of the marquee tournament.
The ex-Indian cricketer has thrown up the idea of the appointment of Meg Lanning as the mentor for the Indian side in the 50-over World Cup, praising her unmatched experience in recent times while playing the Women’s Premier League.
Raman believes that Lanning could be the guiding force the team needs to end the drought for their first (senior) world title on the crunchiest stage – if she has had the opportunity to monitor Indian cricket from close quarters.
Australia’s Meg Lanning has been a pioneering figure in sport, going down as one of the bests who have ever graced the field.
The 32-year-old retired from international cricket after a 241-match career, during which she secured seven World Cup titles and a Commonwealth Games gold – emerging as the top influential athletes in women’s cricket.
Lanning, a record seven-time World Cup winner with two ODI and five T20 elusive titles, had announced her retirement from cricket in 2023. Throughout her glorious career, she has smashed over 8,000 international runs for her country.
Across six Test matches, Lanning accumulated 345 runs at an average of 31.36, registering the highest score of 93 and reaching fifty on two occasions.
In the ODI format where she has featured in 103 matches, she has lodged 4,602 runs at an outstanding average of 53.51. Over 100 innings, she notched up 15 hundreds and 21 half-centuries.
Meanwhile in T20I cricket, the stalwart played 132 games, scoring 3,405 runs across 121 innings at an average of 36.61 and a strike rate exceeding 116. She recorded two centuries and 15 fifties, with her highest score standing at 133*.
The ever-reliable middle-order batter stepped into the captaincy boots in 2014, succeeding Jodie Fields. Captaining Australia in 182 matches, she guided the team with brilliance, securing five ICC trophies during an insurmountable era in the nation’s cricket history.
With team selections and strategies playing a pivotal role in cricket discussions, this endorsement has sparked a new platform for future debates—ones that may well be paid heed to by the governing body of cricket in India.
The India Women’s cricket team hasn’t been able to cross the finishing line and have been underwhelming performers in ICC events. In their 10 appearances in 50-over World Cups and 8 in T20 World Cups, they’ve been disappointing and have always allowed the big occasion to get the better of them. Pressure handling, sloppy fielding, failure in doing the basics right—these have been the controllables they couldn’t handle at all.
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