Women's T20 World Cup 2024: Top 3 players from the Indian Women Cricket Team to watch out for

The Board of Control for Cricket in India has announced a 15-member squad for the Women’s T20 World Cup, which starts on October 3rd. The selectors have placed their trust in the Indian players who secured a final finish in the recently concluded Asia Cup. Harmanpreet Kaur will lead 14 players from the Asia Cup squad in the UAE for the T20 World Cup. While mainstays like Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma will spearhead the team, India also features players such as Shreyanka Patil and Yastika Bhatia, who are currently recovering from injuries. Patil sustained a fracture in the finger of her left hand during the Asia Cup, while Bhatia endured a knee injury during the India vs. Bangladesh T20I series in April this year.

Indian Women's Cricket Team ahead of the Women's T20 World Cup 2024

Originally scheduled to take place in Bangladesh, the T20 World Cup was relocated to the UAE due to severe political unrest in the Asian nation. The event begins on October 3rd with a clash between Bangladesh and Scotland. Harmanpreet Kaur will lead the Indian campaign in the 2024 edition, hoping to replicate the success achieved by the men’s team in the West Indies earlier this year, where they won the T20 World Cup after a gap of over 17 years. For Harmanpreet and her team, this is an opportunity to redeem themselves after the 2023 heartbreak, where they fell short against Australia in the semi-final by a margin of 5 runs.

Unsurprisingly, Smriti Mandhana will assist Kaur as her deputy in the UAE, leading India’s batting charge alongside Shafali Verma and Jemimah Rodrigues. In the bowling department, India has the sensational pacer Renuka Singh Thakur, along with Arundhati Reddy and Asha Sobhana. Completing India’s squad will be ace spinner Deepti Sharma, who will also add depth to India’s batting lineup. As the Women's T20 World Cup 2024 nears it's inception, let's take a look at the leading prospects of the Indian Women's Cricket team in the tournament.

Shafali Verma

At just 20 years old, Shafali Verma has established herself as India’s trusted opener alongside the seasoned batter Smriti Mandhana. Shafali was part of the Indian squad that lost to Australia in the semi-final clash of the 2023 T20 World Cup. The young batter managed to score 102 runs across the 5 innings she played for the women in blue. However, Shafali quickly bounced back from the setback to lead the Indian team in the U-19 World Cup. As the captain, Verma ended as the third-highest run-scorer in the tournament, which saw India winning the title.

As part of the senior Indian women’s team, Shafali has played 81 matches, scoring 1,948 runs across 80 innings at an average of 25.63 and a strike rate of 130.56. Verma will join India’s T20 World Cup campaign after a high-scoring spree in the recently concluded Women's Asia Cup. She ended the Asia Cup as the second-highest run-scorer, amassing 200 runs across 5 innings at an average of 50.00. India’s batting lineup will rely heavily on Shafali, who is expected to open the Indian attack alongside Smriti Mandhana.

Smriti Mandhana

In every marquee event she participates in, Smriti Mandhana emerges as one of the team’s most valuable assets. The 2024 T20 World Cup will be no different, with the vice-captain being the highest run-scorer for India in the shortest format. The opening batter finished the Asia Cup as the third-highest run-scorer of the tournament, amassing 173 runs across 4 innings at an average of 57.67. Overall, Mandhana has accumulated 3,493 runs in 135 innings at an average of 28.86 in T20Is. Moreover, the 28-year-old has 10 fifties to her credit in the white-ball format, with a best score of 87. The Indian vice-captain will undoubtedly shoulder the burden of the Indian batting lineup in the T20 World Cup. If supported by the likes of Jemimah Rodrigues and Shafali Verma, Mandhana has the capability to lead India to victory in this edition.

Shreyanka Patil

Shreyanka Patil made a significant impact with her standout performance in the 2024 WPL for the Smriti Mandhana-led Royal Challengers Bangalore. Consequently, the selectors included the spinning all-rounder in the Indian squad for the Asia Cup earlier this year. However, Patil’s tournament was cut short due to a finger injury in her left hand sustained during the India vs. Pakistan match. Despite the injury, Patil managed to bowl 3.2 overs in that match, taking 2 wickets for 14 runs. If Shreyanka Patil can overcome her injury for the T20 World Cup, she can prove to be a key asset to India’s spin attack alongside Deepti Sharma. The 22-year-old all-rounder, who won the title with RCB this year, claimed the purple cap in the WPL season by taking 13 wickets across 8 matches, with the best figures of 4/12.

India's squad for Women's T20 World Cup 2024: Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Smriti Mandhana (VC), Shafali Verma, Deepti Sharma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh (wk), Yastika Bhatia (wk)*, Pooja Vastrakar, Arundhati Reddy, Renuka Singh Thakur, Dayalan Hemalatha, Asha Sobhana, Radha Yadav, Shreyanka Patil*, Sajana Sajeevan

Travelling Reserves: Uma Chetry (wk), Tanuja Kanwar, Saima Thakor

Non-Travelling Reserves: Raghvi Bist, Priya Mishra