World Cup 2025– From Title Contenders to struggling to make it to the semis, the Indian women’s cricket team’s journey in the 2025 World Cup has not gone as planned. With the advantage of home conditions, many pundits believed that the Indian Team had the best chance to make it to the top 4 without much trouble, but with three back-to-back failures and only 1 spot available in the top 4, India, New Zealand and Sri Lanka will fight for a berth in the semifinals.

This article will analyse the reasons behind the hiccups faced by Team India, which is the reason behind their poor performance so far, and how the Indian women’s cricket team can make a comeback into the tournament.

Introduction

The Indian women’s cricket team entered the 2025 World Cup with a good squad that could challenge stronger teams like Australia and England. Buoyed by home advantage, the Indian women’s cricket team’s strength is their strong spin attack and an in-form batting unit, making them a genuine contender for the 2025 ICC Silverware.

The Opening two wins against Sri Lanka and Pakistan were not convincing enough, and the team displayed flaws in their game that required immediate corrections, required to beat bigger teams in the competition.

As the tournament progressed, the Indian team played some very ordinary cricket, putting themselves under pressure, giving away advantageous positions, and their performances fell way behind expectations.

India’s History in ICC World Cups –

With Australia and England being the dominant teams in the women’s game, India managed to reach the finals on two occasions (2005 and 2017), making them no pushovers in the women’s game. The hunger to cross the line in the 2025 edition will be even more with the games being played in India in front of the home crowd.

Pre-Tournament preparation

Before the start of the tournament and with India being the hosts for this marquee tournament, the Indian women’s cricket team were poised to perform well in the tournament. With some new players strengthening the side, the team lead by Harmanpreet Kaur had a very good Australian series at home that gave the team the much needed game time before a big tournament. The Australian series at home saw some good batting performances especially from Smriti Mandhana, India’s run machine, vice captain and a key player in the squad. The selectors put a good squad on paper with emphasis on a strong batting core and a brilliant spin attack which are the key two pillars to succeed in subcontinental conditions.

Indian women’s cricket team Outing so far – why India women have performed poorly?

Women’s World Cup 2025 performance has been hot and cold till now. India had two relatively easy games to start the tournament, but in both wins, the batting did not look as convincing as expected, considering their current form. India did manage to have their moments of batting brilliance, but have been very inconsistent when it came to stitching partnerships or making use of good starts.

In the game against South Africa and Australia, even with big scores, the team was not able to defend their score, which suggested that the batting had to score the additional 30 + runs in both games. The bowling has been poor for India’s standards, and scores of 330 also could not be defended. Poor fielding and field placements with some ordinary captaincy also needs to take the blame.

In the game against England, India missed a trick in the chase and was unable to close the game even after their two seniors (Smriti and Harmanpreet) had 50+ scores and were cruising for an easy win.

India’s fielding and wicketkeeping is a major area of concern in all the three defeats so far.

Batting unit has not clicked together which has now become their Achilles heel.

The bowling unit, especially the pace bowling, has showed promise, but against stronger teams, has been seen wanting and in comparison to other teams looks the most vulnerable. The lack of quality pace bowling has hurt India in the death overs to contain runs and defend totals. Even in the two wins the batting and bowling lacked the dominance.

The team has lacked mental strength in tough situation and in crunch moments. The defeat against England from being in a strong position just proved the lack of mental strength to fight in tough situation along with tactical blunders.

Harmanpreet – Captaincy leaves fans disappointed

Captaincy has not been great. Harmanpreet’s captaincy has been weak and has lacked creativity. Bowling changes, field placements and approach to the game have not gone India’s way.

Sadly, the captain has always given excuses and blamed team members for the defeat which reflects poor captaincy traits.

Poor Batting and Bowling

The entire team strategy revolves around the start the two openers give, which also reflects the fragile middle order for India in this tournament. India is clueless in the event of a top-order collapse.

Baring Pratika Rawal, Richa Gosh and Deepti Sharma, batting has been inconsistent. Smriti Mandhana and Harmanpreet Kaur are in form but not consistent enough. The biggest concern is the form of Jemimah Rodrigues, who was dropped for the England game.

The Pitches in India for the World Cup have favoured the batters. Bowlers have not got purchase from the wicket, especially the spinners. This has proved counterproductive for India’s campaign heavily relies on spinners.

Is it the End of the Indian women’s cricket team campaign? Can India make a comeback?

India is still in the hunt for the fourth spot and can qualify for the semis. India’s game against New Zealand will be a virtual knockout with both teams eying qualification in the semis, along with Sri Lanka, who also stand a chance.

How can Indian women still win the World Cup?

• Smriti Mandhana and Pratika Rawal needs to be mindful of the fragile middle order and ensure strong opening stand.
• The Middle Order need to play till 40 overs to give Richa Gosh to play her game in the last 10 overs.
• A set batsman need to play the majority of the overs and not expect a fresh batter to do the job.
• Harmanpreet, Jemimah needs to be more consistent and not put the added pressure on the lower order.
• India should play the best bowling attack even if it means playing 1 pacer alongside Amanjot Kaur.
• Fielding needs to improve as India has leaked a lot of runs on the field. A good fielding day can help India save 30-40 runs.  Catches are going to be crucial, and India can ill-afford any further sloppiness.
• Captaincy has to be better. Harmanpreet’s leadership will need to step up or give way to a new leader who can captain the ship if need be. Performance need to be above reputation.
• India needs to win their remaining group games and also improve their net run rate in case there is a tie to decide the 4^th spot.

Summary

Women’s World Cup 2025 performance has seen many teams still coming to terms with subcontinental conditions. India needs to take advantage of their home conditions for the remainder of the games. From being title contenders to struggling to get into the semis, India still should not lose hope, as the remaining games for Team India are relatively easier.

The tournament has exposed the Indian women’s cricket team’s weaknesses and the tactical mishaps that can be corrected and improved upon, especially in the fielding department. It is a good wakeup call for Team India, and they will need to play some impressive cricket from hereon to be in contention.

Bat deep, bowl smart and field sharp in the remaining games to help rub off their poor performances in the tournament so far.

Our website : supersports360.com

Trending Article:

India Women’s Cricket World Cup 

Top 2 Women Cricketers To Watch This World Cup

Women’s World Cup Preview – Dominant Australia 

Join us on Twitter (x) : @360supersports