ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2026: SWOT analysis of India Women

Strength

India’s core strength is its batting. The top order of Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma is among the best in the world and can destroy any bowling attack on their day. Jemimah Rodrigues in the middle order will provide stability and can also be the ‘X-factor’ in big matches, as she showed during a highly contested semi-final against Australia last year. For the finishing, they have the captain, Harmanpreet Kaur, and Richa Ghosh, who can either blast their way to a big score or control a chase expertly.

Weakness

However, the pace bowling strength is a matter of concern as they still do not have a proper replacement for the great Jhulan Goswami. Renuka Thakur will lead the pack, but others like Arundhati Reddy and Kranti Gaud need to deliver a strong performance. While the spin department looks formidable with Deepti Sharma, Radha Yadav, and Shreyanka Patil leading the charge, their effectiveness in English conditions is a major talking point. How well these pitches support the spinners could be a significant factor in their success.

Opportunity

In recent years, the Women’s Premier League (WPL) has emerged as a massive success story for Indian cricket, providing exposure to many young Indian talents. Some of them are now in the national team and will look to deliver similar scintillating performances. Nandani Sharma, Shree Charani, Kranti Gaud, and Shreyanka Patil – all of them have performed well in WPL before getting selected, and these youngsters can be a driving force for India’s success.

Threat

Indians are in a very tough group, which can pose a strong challenge for them. Australia is the greatest side in the women’s game, and South Africa were the runners-up in the last three ICC tournaments. Even the Sub-continental neighbours like Bangladesh and Pakistan can push India on their day. Till now, India have been the underachiever in T20 World Cups with many Semi-final exits, and fans will be interested to see if they can motivate themselves for that extra effort.

Although India lost the recent T20I series against England 2-1, it provided them with important game time in English conditions and will play a key role in their preparation for the game’s biggest prize.

India women: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Bharti Fulmali, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh, Shree Charani, Yastika Bhatia, Nandani Sharma, Arundhati Reddy, Renuka Singh, Kranti Gaud, Shreyanka Patil, Radha Yadav

Preferred first XI: Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Yastika Bhatia, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh, Arundhati Reddy, Kranti Gaud, Renuka Thakur, Shree Charani.

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