The clock is ticking as the much-awaited Women’s World Cup 2022 to be held in New Zealand draws even closer. Eight teams – India, West Indies, New Zealand, Bangladesh, England, South Africa, Pakistan and Australia, will take part in this edition of the tournament that starts on 4 March.
This time, each team plays the other once in a single league stage before the top four teams progress to the semi-finals.
India may not have had the preparation they would have hoped for in the limited-overs series against New Zealand, but Mithali Raj and Co did manage to finally win a game in the fifth WODI, thanks to a combined team effort.
They carried forward the momentum and beat South Africa and West Indies in the warm-up games.
There will be a lot of promising stars who will hope to impress on the big stage. Veterans like Jhulan Goswami have played the tournament before, but while India have experienced campaigners like Smriti Mandhana, there will be some fresh faces who will be raring to go.
Let’s take a look at five Indian players who could be key for their side:
Smriti Mandhana
She may be just 25 years old, but Smriti Mandhana has already achieved several feats in her nine-year international career so far.
She has won the Rachael Heyhoe-Flint trophy twice, once in 2018 and another in 2021, joining Australia’s Ellyse Perry as the only other cricketer to win the award more than once.
File image of Smriti Mandhana. Image: Twitter/@BCCIWomen
The Mumbai-born batter has four ODI centuries to her name, with each of them coming in each of the SENA (South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia) nations, so she’s surely a best bet to bring her international experience to the fore.
Mandhana has an impressive average of 42 while opening the batting for India in ODIs, having scored 2436 runs from 63 matches.
The Indian team endured a disappointing outing during the recent limited-overs series against New Zealand in Kiwiland as part of the build-up for the World Cup, but Mandhana stepped up in the fifth ODI, amassing 71 runs to help the Women in Blue grab a consolation win.
Mandhana had missed most of the limited-overs series due to being in extended quarantine, and only played the last two ODIs.
Mandhana is a vital cog in India’s arsenal and India will have high hopes from Mandhana to help them build a strong platform at the top to setup/chase big totals on the big stage.
Richa Ghosh
She maybe still a newbie to ODI cricket having played just seven matches so far, but Richa Ghosh has time and again shown how much of a balance she adds to that middle-order lineup.
In the seven games, Ghosh has endured single-figure dismissals only twice, with her knock of 65 being her best score with the bat so far against any opposition in ODIs. That was in the second ODI against New Zealand recently in the Kiwi nation, where she was involved in a 108-run stand with skipper Mithali Raj for the fifth wicket.
Ghosh recently was the talk of the town when the 18-year-old recorded the fastest fifty by an Indian batter in a WODI when she reached the milestone in just 26 balls. This was in the rain-curtailed fourth ODI but India eventually suffered a 63-run defeat.
Her aggressive approach will come in handy for India, and will also play a pivotal role in keeping the wickets for her team.
Deepti Sharma
Right-arm offbreak bowler Deepti Sharma is a vital cog in the Indian team setup. Back in 2017, Deepti Sharma made a name for herself when she scalped 12 wickets at the Women’s World Cup in England, ending up as the fifth highest wicket-taker in the tournament overall and the most by an Indian in that edition.
Much recently against New Zealand, Deepti bowled brilliantly under different match situations, even bowling a few slog overs on a few occasions.
File image of Deepti Sharma (R). Image credit: Twitter/@BCCIWomen
She ended up with 12 wickets during the recent limited-overs series against the White Ferns, and continued her positive run of form with figures of 2/31 against West Indies in a World Cup warm-up match.
She can be handy with the bat as well, as she has shown on a few occasions, including an unbeaten 69 and a knock of 51 against New Zealand and West Indies recently.
Last year, Deepti was in fine run of form as she scalped 10 wickets in the women’s The Hundred competition.
She’s had quite a decent run over the last 12 months in ODIs, scoring 303 runs from 15 matches at an average of 30.30, while taking 15 wickets.
To add to that, the 24-year-old has not gone wicketless in WODIs since September 2021, when she endured figures of 0/46 against Australia.
Rajeshwari Gayakwad
Off-spinner Rajeshwari Gayakwad has enjoyed a fine run of form over the past 12 months. In 11 WODIs, she has scalped 14 wickets, with best figures of 3/13 against South Africa in March last year.
In the recent Senior Women’s One Day Challenger Trophy, India D’s Gayakwad ended up as the third highest wicket-taker in the tournament, with seven scalps to her name. In the final, although India D went on to lose the match, Gayakwad still showcased her skills with splendid figures of 4/36.
She has continued to produce wickets, having scalped seven of them in the recent limited-overs series against New Zealand, while also registering figures of 4/46 and 2/39 against South Africa and West Indies respectively in the two warm-up games.
The 30-year-old will be a vital cog in India’s spin department. She has managed to keep things tight in the middle overs, and skipper Mithali Raj will be backing Gayakwad to produce potentially game-changing moments on the back of the spinner’s fine run of form.
Meghna Singh
Just like a few others in the Indian team, right-arm medium pacer Meghna Singh is another newbie in the setup.
Meghna is expected to lead the pace attack for India with the vastly-experienced Jhulan Goswami as her partner, and will be expected to step up in challenging conditions.
Meghna’s biggest strength is her outswinger.
She picked up a couple of wickets in her maiden ODI series against Australia last year, with an economy rate of 4.85.
The 27-year-old recently played the fourth and fifth WODIs against New Zealand, where she finished with figures of 1/45 and 1/22 respectively.
She will be hoping to continue that form and impress at the big stage, come the Women’s World Cup 2022.