Team Analysis for the Women's T20I World Cup 2023: India

Indian Women's Cricket Team (Source: BCCI/@BCCIWomen)

To the delight of cricket fans across the globe, the much-awaited Women's T20 World Cup is slated to begin this week. 

With ten top-tier teams set to collide against each other, we anticipate a series of riveting battles in the showpiece event. 

Like most teams, Indian Women have come up with a formidable squad capable of lifting the title. 

But can Harmanpreet Kaur and co go all the way? Let's analyse some key points to draw a conclusion. 

History

India Women have participated in all the editions of the T20 World Cup. Out of the seven editions played so far, the Women in Blue have qualified for the semifinals four times, including a final, while facing a group-stage exit thrice. 

The previous edition in 2020 was the most fruitful for them, as they stormed their way through to the grand finale before being crushed by the eventual champions Australia in the ultimate battle. 

(Source: OneCricket)

India Squad for Women's T20I World Cup 2023

(Source: OneCricket)

Strengths

• Formidable New-ball bowling unit: If a team has Renuka Singh, Anjali Sarvani and Shikha Pandey as its seamers, it can rip through the opposition in the powerplay itself. These three seamers have the ability to make the new ball talk. While Renuka and Shikha can move the ball both ways, Anjali's left-arm angle ensures variety. So, India's new-ball attack is one of their biggest strengths heading into the tournament. 
• Several multi-dimensional players: India has the most multi-dimensional players among the teams set to participate in the World Cup. While Deepti Sharma, Devika Vaidya and Pooja Vastrakar can be equally impactful with bat and ball, the likes of Harmanpreet Kaur and Shafali Verma empower them with another two decent bowling options besides doing their primary job, i.e. batting. 

Weaknesses

• Death bowling: The recent home series against Australia exposed India's death bowling woes, as the Indian seamers looked clueless in the slog overs. Renuka Singh and Anjali Sarvani must evolve their death bowling skills and assist the experienced Shikha Pandey to ensure an underwhelming finish for the opposition. 
• Lack of accelerating options in middle overs: The middle overs phase is the most crucial stage for a batting side in T20s. Irrespective of the start, how the batting side fares in this phase decide what kind of a total it posts in the end. But recently, India have had acceleration issues in the middle phase. Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur is their biggest asset in this regard, but she also takes some time to get her eyes in. So, somewhere we believe India must trust Richa Ghosh and promote her on occasion to up the ante, particularly against spinners. 

Opportunity

• Variety in the spin attack: India have an off-spinner in Deepti Sharma, two left-arm spinners in Rajeshwari Gayakwad and Radha Yadav and a leg-spinner in Devika Vaidya. Even Harmanpreet and Shafali Verma can chip in with a few overs with their off-spin. Thus, their spin unit looks robust in terms of quality and quantity, allowing them to exploit their opponents on gradually tiring South African wickets. 

Threat

• Tendency to let the momentum slip and collapse: India have had a perennial issue of collapsing from nowhere in crunch games. Be it the 2017 ODI World Cup or 2020 T20 World Cup or the Commonwealth Games 2022, India Women entered the final with the reputation of a fierce competitor but somehow converted into the pale shadow of themselves in the ultimate face-off. So, having experienced multiple heartbreaks of late, it's time for Harmanpreet Kaur and co to exhibit nerves of steel and win the mini battles in crunch situations to emerge victorious in the mega World Cup war. 

(Source: OneCricket)

Prediction

If India Women play as per their potential, we see them qualifying for the final. But if they do so, they must ensure they don't break the hearts of a billion of their countrymen praying for their success back home. 

Also Read: Pakistan Cricket Board hands Asif Afridi two-year ban for anti-corruption offences