India Women’s cricket stars Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, and Jemimah Rodrigues have their eyes firmly set on the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025. For skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, this will mark her first time leading the side at a Women’s ODI World Cup, and she’s determined to end India’s wait for a maiden senior ICC trophy.
“(The plan is the) same as my first ODI World Cup. I want to go there and enjoy my cricket, but playing in front of the home crowd is always special. This time, I hope we will give our 100 per cent and try to break that final barrier that we have all been waiting for,” Kaur shared at the ‘50 Days to Go’ event in Mumbai.
Kaur feels India will enter the tournament brimming with confidence, buoyed by their recent form, highlighted by a memorable series triumph in both the T20 International (T20I) and One Day International (ODI) series in England. She expressed, “(The confidence is) very high. The kind of cricket we’ve played over the last couple of years, gives us a lot of confidence.”
India opener Smriti Mandhana echoed Kaur’s sentiments, reflecting on how the mindset within Indian cricket has evolved significantly in recent years. Mandhana expressed, “The mindset has changed over the last two or three years. There’s a calmness with which I want to go about on the field. Our whole team is heading in that direction. We know where we want to work hard. And when we enter the field, we know we’ve just got to implement.”
Mandhana emphasised that the team’s priority was to remain in the moment rather than chase specific milestones. “Whenever we’ve done well (on the field), everything else has taken care of itself. We are preparing really really well. We’ve had a preparation camp. We’ve had an England tour. We’ve one tour ahead of the World Cup. To be honest, that’s the only thing we are thinking about.”
Middle-order mainstay Jemimah Rodrigues pointed out that the Women’s Premier League (WPL) has played a key role in boosting the confidence of the team’s newcomers. She highlighted the feat of 22-year-old pacer Kranti Gaud, who topped the wicket charts in India’s 2-1 ODI series win in England with nine wickets, including a stunning six-wicket haul.
She expressed, “What the WPL has done has given youngsters a platform to perform and get into the Indian team. There’s not as much pressure as on international debut. In this team, we see that. We look at Kranti (Gaud), she’s fearless. That attitude is so nice to see that it pushes each one of us.”
Former India captain Mithali Raj, who led the side in the previous edition also attended the event and felt that the team’s recent run of results has placed them in a strong position ahead of the World Cup. “The way the team has been doing over the last one year, not just in ODIs, but in T20Is. A wonderful series in England, beating England in England, I can see with their confidence, and being there in the home world cup. I think nothing better.”
India will aim to go one step further at this year’s tournament compared to 2017, when they reached their second Women’s Cricket World Cup Final but fell just short, losing to England in a nail-biting finish at Lord’s. Reflecting on that campaign, the trio admitted that while missing out on a maiden title was heartbreaking, the event left a lasting impact on Indian women’s cricket.
One of the tournament’s standout moments came in the semi-final, when Harmanpreet Kaur produced her iconic unbeaten 171* against Australia, an innings now etched in cricketing folklore. Kaur expressed about that moment, “That knock was something really special to me. Special to the entire women’s cricket. After that knock, a lot of things changed for me and women’s cricket. That time I didn’t realise (its impact).”
Mandhana, who made her Women’s Cricket World Cup debut in 2017, cherishes fond memories from the campaign, during which she amassed 232 runs, including a century against the West Indies.
“We all remember that World Cup. Not just my century, we remember each other’s innings as well. To witness that 171 (from Harmanpreet Kaur). Everyone came together in that World Cup. Not just the World Cup but what followed. The kind of welcome we got back from the fans. The way things changed after that World Cup,” she added.
Jemimah Rodrigues, then an emerging cricketer, remembered heading to the airport to welcome and support the team, and the wave of excitement that surrounded their return. Sharing about that moment she added, “I remember all these people, they were tired and at the same time disappointed, because they were so close, and yet it felt so far. And they walked out of the airport thinking nobody was going to be there.
“I can tell you at 5:30 in the morning, the whole airport was packed with crowd. People right now would think that that’s normal. But at that time, for women’s sport, it wasn’t. I remember this whole bunch of players coming in and going back, because they weren’t expecting it.”
With the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025 now just 50 days away, anticipation is building across the country. India will launch their campaign on home soil against Sri Lanka at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on 30 September.
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