With the Women’s ODI World Cup 2025 commencing from September 30th, the Indian women’s cricket team is accelerating its preparation. Their sights are set on a prize they’ve chased for decades — a maiden world title, and this time, the quest unfolds in front of home fans.
Recently the team won over England in their own backyard and Harmanpreet Kaur’s side regrouped at the Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru — once known as the National Cricket Academy — for a high-intensity 10-day training camp. The agenda was simple but demanding: elevate fitness, sharpen skills, and simulate the pressures of match-day combat.
Fielding, long seen as a soft spot, took centre stage. Radha Yadav’s brilliance is already legendary, while Jemimah Rodrigues continues to throw herself around with gravity-defying dives to save critical runs. In the final ODI against England, Deepti Sharma stole the spotlight with a flying catch to remove Amy Jones off Kranti Goud — a reminder of what’s possible when reflexes meet commitment. Yet, the flashes of brilliance from the likes of Smriti Mandhana, Harmanpreet, and Harleen Deol have lacked consistent support across the board. The camp’s purpose is to bridge exactly that gap.
Overseen by head coach Amol Muzumdar, the sessions blended strength work, skill drills, and full-scale match scenarios. This phase of preparation will flow into a key home series against defending champions Australia from September 14, followed by warm-up matches against England (September 25) and New Zealand (September 27) before their opening match against Sri Lanka on September 30th.
The tournament itself will see eight nations — Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, and Sri Lanka — play a round-robin league. Matches will be staged in Visakhapatnam, Indore, Guwahati, and Colombo. Thiruvananthapuram is set to replace Bengaluru as a host city after the Karnataka government declined to host games at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, a decision influenced by the tragic IPL celebration stampede in June that claimed 11 lives.
This is the first women’s global cricket tournament in the subcontinent since the 2016 T20 World Cup, and India’s fourth time hosting the ODI World Cup after 1978, 1997, and 2013. The squad for the event will be announced by August 30, with only minor tweaks expected from the England series lineup.
The Women in Blue enter the tournament on the back of some solid performances. Since the 2022 ODI World Cup in New Zealand, they’ve won 24 of 35 matches, with their only setbacks coming against Australia (six times) and one each against Bangladesh, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, and England. In 2025 alone, they’ve played 11 games, winning nine. Smriti Mandhana has been the standout batter with 628 runs, closely followed by new opening sensation Pratika Rawal’s 569. Sneh Rana’s 18 wickets in eight matches lead the bowling charts, while Deepti Sharma’s all-round returns — 249 runs and 13 wickets — underline her value.
For the first time, India will attempt this mission without legends Mithali Raj and Jhulan Goswami, who carried them to the finals in 2005 and 2017. Yet the current crop — confident, in form, and buoyed by home support — know the opportunity before them. This isn’t just another tournament. It’s a chance to end decades of near-misses, to seize history, and to bring the Women’s ODI World Cup home.
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