With 50 days to go for the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025, India women’s captain Harmanpreet Kaur, opener Smriti Mandhana and batter Jemimah Rodrigues have opened up on their big ambitions for the marquee tournament.
Notably, the upcoming 50-over World Cup marks the return of a senior ICC Women’s tournament to the sub-continent for the first time since 2016, when India hosted the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup. India has previously hosted the Women’s World Cup in 1978, 1997 and 2013.
Harmanpreet, who will be leading in her first Women’s ODI World Cup, is keen on breaking India’s deadlock by winning their first senior ICC silverware.
“(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 percent and try to break that final barrier that we have all been waiting for,” Kaur said at the ’50 Days To Go’ event in Mumbai.
The 36-year-old Kaur believes India are heading into the tournament high on confidence following their recent successes, especially the series win in England.
“(The confidence is) very high. The kind of cricket we’ve played over the last couple of years, gives us a lot of confidence,” she said.
Meanwhile, India opener Smriti Mandhana echoed Kaur’s belief and opened up on the changing mindset within Indian cricket over the past few years.
“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 was quoted as saying by ICC.
Mandhana further mentioned that the side was focusing on staying in the present and not looking to achieve specific landmarks.
“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,” she said.
Middle-order batting lynchpin Jemimah Rodrigues stated that the start of the Women’s Premier League has also contributed to bolstering the confidence of newcomers in the team.
Rodrigues gave the game the example of 22-year-old pacer Kranti Gaud, who finished as the leading wicket-taker in India’s 2-1 ODI series win in England with nine scalps that included a six-wicket haul.
“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,” Jemimah said.
“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,” she added.
On the other hand, former India captain Mithali Raj, who was also a part of the event and had led the side in the previous edition, believed that the team’s recent string of results puts them in a strong position for 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,” Mithali said.
“I can see with their confidence, and being there in the home world cup. I think nothing better,” she added.
India will kickstart their ODI World Cup 2025 campaign against Sri Lanka at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on September 30.