India women’s head coach, Amol Muzumdar has given a key update on fitness of star pacer Renuka Singh ahead of the ODI series against Australia and the upcoming ICC Women’s ODI World Cup 2025.
Renuka, who is India’s strike bowler with the new ball, has 35 ODI scalps at an average of 22.02 and an impressive economy of 4.85. She will lead India’s pace attack during the Women’s ODI World Cup 2025.
The 29-year-old pacer is building up on her return in India colours for the first time since December 2024.
“Renuka has just joined in for this series. She was recovering and she cleared all her tests,” Muzumdar told reporters ahead of the series opener.
“Renuka is an important member of the team, she is the leader of the pack as far as medium-pace bowling is concerned. I think she’s been an integral part of this team. She had an injury, layoff, and now she’s back with us,” he added.
Amol Muzumdar Speaks About Teams’ Recent Positive Outings
The three games against Australia will help India work out their best possible combinations before the World Cup. According to coach Muzumdar, it is also an important series for India to build on their recent positive outings.
Notably, the Harmanpreet Kaur-led side were a force to reckon with in the tri-series outing in Sri Lanka in April-May, where they won the final by 97 runs, and subsequently defeated England in both ODI and T20I series during their tour of the country in June-July.
“I think it’s (Australia) a very important series for us, and we’re looking forward to the series. Playing against one of the top teams in the world. We had a lovely tour of England. We had positive results which we wanted in England, and now we’re looking forward to this series,” said Muzumdar. “
Speaking further on the England tour, Muzumdar pinpointed the crucial takeaways for the side ahead of the World Cup.
“We had the results as you know it. 2-1 in the ODIs, and we also won the T20I series, a first-time result in England. A great 40-day tour, and we gelled really well. It was a great team effort,” the Indian head coach said.
“Everyone contributed. [Our first win on the tour] Was setup really nicely by Smriti [Mandhana], who got a hundred at Trent Bridge, and ended really well with Harman getting a hundred at Durham. In between, there were solid positives about most of the players who played.
Somebody like Kranti Goud getting six wickets [was great]. Radha Yadav chipped in both the series. Deepti Sharma also chipped in, whether with the bat or the ball,” he added.
India Head Coach On Preparation For Australia Series
Asked about how India were looking to prepare for the Australia series, head coach Amol Muzumdar stated that India’s focus will be to get their strategies right.
“Australia has been the dominant force for so many years, but we focus on our preparations, and we tend to give a lot of importance to how we prepare ourselves, how we plan and how we are going to execute it. How we can focus internally,” said Muzumdar.
The three ODIs in the series will be played on September 14, 17 and 19. India begin their Women’s ODI World Cup campaign against co-hosts Sri Lanka in Guwahati on September 30.