New Delhi, June 19 (IANS) The going has been great for India so far in the 2026 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup. With two wins out of as many games, the Harmanpreet Kaur-led side have themselves in a good space to enter the semi-finals.
But with tougher opponents like South Africa, Bangladesh and Australia coming up, India have to step up in all aspects if they are to enter the knockouts. Mithali Raj, the former India captain, addressed questions around the Indian team, its various talking points and future opponents as ICC Women’s T20 World Cup expert on a JioStar Media Day.
Excerpts: –
On any areas of concern which Indian team can work on ahead of the upcoming games
I would pick the first six overs of our bowling innings as something I would not call it as a strength. In these two games, if you’ve seen, that first four-five overs with the new ball is something that I expect our bowlers, whoever are bowling in that phase, to get us some breakthrough, which in the last two-three series, we were not able to see.
Yes, India are missing Kashvee Gautam and Amanjot Kaur, but with the resources that we have, we need to make inroads in those initial few overs. We could see that when you get early breakthroughs, it sort of obviously puts pressure on the batting team. Like if we put ourselves as well, if we lose early wickets, like we lost Shefali and Jemimah in the power play against Pakistan, it is our experience that has come to our rescue.
It’s Smriti and Harmanpreet Kaur and then again, in terms of bowling also, it is Deepti who’s come and got us the first breakthrough. So yes, experience does matter, but against teams like South Africa and Australia, you want more. So yes, I would like it if support staff could find ways where our seamers are able to use the conditions or hit the right lengths to give us a better start in terms of our bowling innings.
On what would be India’s focus point right now – improving their batting intent or the overall bowling department?
Well, see, batting, I think Smriti is doing great. I’ve really been very impressed with the way she’s shown game awareness, losing Shefali or Jemimah, but she still kept her composure and had a plan in how she wanted to execute or get her innings through. She held one end and then had partnerships with the other batters.
Richa is such an integral part of that batting unit coming in the last five-six overs. My concern, of course, greatly is in terms of her bowling because batters do know their role. I mean, clearly, we are able to at least see whether it is Shefali who adjusted her innings against Netherlands. She wanted to spend some time. It was quite evident there, or Jemimah.
But when it comes to bowlers, who are our strike bowlers? Who are the ones who are going to get us wickets? Who are the ones who are going to consolidate or tighten the run flow? There has to be that role clarity in the bowling department, which I feel is sort of either it’s missing in a sense.
Nandni Sharma was given a go, and she bowled well. Kranti Gaud was again given a second game, which I’m very happy about because youngsters sometimes need a game or two to get into the rhythm. Now, you have Arundhati Reddy as well. So how do you use your seamers? You have spinners in the ranks, but Shreyanka is injured.
So perhaps you might get a left arm spinner in Radha Yadav and Charani and having just one off-spinner, how are you going to use these overs? So yes, there is a lot of thinking that needs to go into that. One big aspect of getting into the knockouts is to get your bowling unit to be stronger. Right now, if you ask me, it is batting that is the strong pursuit of the Indian team.
On how crucial it will be to dismiss Laura Wolvaardt early in the match
Well, any player who’s in form, I’m sure that’s how every other team is planning against us. It’s like to get Smriti Mandhana out because in a format like this, having a set batter or having someone who’s in really good form, if you can get them out early, that definitely puts pressure on the other batters.
It’s because a lot will depend on how Laura has that opening stand with Dercksen in the first six overs for South Africa. Every time she’s held that one end and the rest of them have batted around her, which is a very similar role is what Smriti is also doing for India.
In that context, she is just as important to South Africa as Smriti is for India. So yes, if you get Laura’s wicket early, then you can strangle South Africa because if you talk about the last game, they were at 60-odd runs for two wickets. Then from there to score 126, they lost nearly 8 wickets. So that says that if you get the captain out early, you sort of naturally put pressure on the other batters.
On who are semi-finals contenders from both groups
See, I feel in our group, since Australia and India have already won two games, and they have one game to go against India and we are yet to play South Africa. As South Africa lost to Australia, that means to say, we do have a better chance to qualify considering that at least some of our core players are in form.
I want to see how these two games go for us, but still, if we talk about today, I think Australia and India are getting into the knockouts from our group. From the other group, it would be England, since they’ve also started on a good note and won most of all of the games.
Now the second team from that group is going to be a little difficult because there are a few teams that can actually come through. It could be the West Indies or Sri Lanka. Since New Zealand pretty much have reduced their chances of getting into the knockouts, it’s a little tough to pick between West Indies and Sri Lanka. Well, perhaps we’ll go with the West Indies.
On what are one or two areas in the Australian team that India can exploit or expose in big games
If you look at the Australian team overall, there are specific roles that each one of them play. If we talk about the opening batters, Georgia Wall is the aggressor, Beth Mooney drops the anchor. They depend heavily on Phoebe Litchfield because of her stroke play also and as someone who plays with a higher strike rate.
So she doesn’t really stay for long, but her impact is so much that the rest of them can take time and play those innings that they have played. So she is one player that India can really look forward to getting her wicket early and that is provided we get the openers early and then Litchfield too.
In terms of their bowling, they have an all-round attack. They have seamers in their ranks. Even if they want to introduce a left-armer, they have Lucy Hamilton there. They have the spinners, leg spinners, off-spinners – so all the boxes ticked. For me, it is going to be a test of who executes the plans well, who reads the game much ahead of the rest of the players or the opponent and who seizes those moments.
It’s because every game has those moments where it gives us an opportunity. India was very good in the ODI World Cup semi-final against Australia. It was not about skills that day also, I felt It was more about the nerves and I felt Australia was more nervous.
So, here, it is going to come down to that – how you absorb pressure, how aware you are about the situation on the field and how quickly you change your plans by understanding where the game is going. That would be the key against Australia because skill-wise, the Indian team are not behind as they have all the skills.
On who between Bharti and Yastika should India pick and how big a threat Marizanne Kapp and Shabnim Ismail will be in Sunday’s clash
I would say there is no point in changing a player in every game. You have given Bharti a go in the first game. If you wanted to continue with her, you should have given her the second game. But they have got Yastika and again, going back to Bharti actually doesn’t make sense.
I think they should continue with Yastika as she got runs in the England series prior to this World Cup. She also plays as a left-hander and that is also a plus. Having an extra left-hander along with Smriti and Deepti – you have another left-hander in the top order and I think India should go with Yastika.
Shabnim Ismail and Marizanne Kapp are going to be the key because Kapp was brilliant in that first spell against Pakistan and both of them know the Indian batters well. So they have that knowledge going into the game and they are also vastly experienced. So it is going to be those top 4-5 South African players versus our top 4-5 players.
I think both the teams are equally balanced in terms of skill and what they bring to the table. In terms of experience also, if we talk about Smriti, Harman, Deepti, they have Shabnim, Kapp, and Laura. So, it all comes down to how we pick or set our momentum in the first 6 overs – whether we are batting or bowling in the first innings.
Watch India vs South Africa in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026, June 21, LIVE on JioHotstar and Star Sports Network
–IANS
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