CHENNAI: "Domestic players can use WPL to earn India call-up for T20 World Cup," India's captain Harmanpreet Kaur had said before the start of the second season of the Women's Premier League earlier this year. At that time, with the captain and coach, Amol Muzumdar, who was just two series old, trying to forge a bond, these call-ups felt like an ambitious task.
A few days after Kaur's remarks, while commentating on the game between Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Gujarat Giants, Muzumdar echoed the sentiments saying "I would want another pool of 20-25 players to create a bench strength for the Indian team." If you look at the squad announced for the upcoming T20 World Cup in Dubai, one can trace the importance given to the performances in the league.
Take for example the inclusion of right-arm pacer Arundhati Reddy. While she was part of the World Cup squad in the 2020 edition in Australia, she only played two matches in the entire tournament as India continued to prefer one pacer (Shikha Pandey) and four spinners right till the final.
Reddy did get the opportunity in two series after a long COVID-19 break, however she fell off the radar after that. Cut to the inaugural WPL season in 2023, where the pacer was part of the runners-up, Delhi Capitals. In the second season (2024), despite bowling alongside South African great Marizanne Kapp and Pandey, Reddy made her mark with seven wickets as the Capitals made it to the second consecutive final. That is something India needed at the international level, where a player can add depth to the already existing lineup.
The likes of captain Kaur, vice-captain Smriti Mandhana and her fellow opener Shafali Verma, wicketkeeper Richa Ghosh, and allrounders Deepti Sharma and Pooja Vastrakar have selected themselves based on their consistent performances, India have unearthed many reliable players through the franchise league.
Shreyanka Patil, who ended up taking the most wickets in the second season, has now earned enough international experience (12 T20Is so far) to warrant the maiden World Cup call. Sajana Sajeevan and Asha Sobhana, the veterans of the domestic game in India were able to show what they are capable of in the league and have now found themselves representing the country.
Since the 2017 ODI World Cup in England, India have consistently found themselves in the semifinals of the tournaments, except for the 2022 ODI WC. On most of those occasions, whether it was the final of the T20 WC in 2020 or the gold medal match in the 2022 edition of the Commonwealth Games, India have ended up blinking first in the pressure situations.
Looking at this squad, one cannot definitively say that India would overcome the problem if raised during the WC, but they are now at least used to being in that kind of situation more often. And it would come in handy if India have to beat better-ranked sides to win their first-ever senior WC.
While the last three series India played — a five-match T20I series against Bangladesh, the all-format series against South Africa at home (the T20I series was played in Chennai) and the Women's Asia Cup in Sri Lanka — were all in preparation for the marquee event originally planned in Bangladesh. Looking at the changes made in the playing XIs throughout these, forced or otherwise, gave an indication of which way India wanted to go for selecting the WC squad.
And there are not any surprises in that regard even though Patil and wicketkeeper Yastika Bhatia still have to prove their fitness before they fly to UAE. Unlike a few other teams, where veterans have announced their retirements since the previous edition, India have retained their experienced core for the WC. The group has played enough cricket together and shares that squad mentality by now. However, with no fixtures planned after the Asia Cup final till the warm-up games in the WC so far could be a cause of concern for this Indian unit.
This is probably the best chance India have to win their maiden ICC title despite being in a group of death with six-time WC champions Australia and Asia Cup winners Sri Lanka. A grand mix of youth and experience, better-prepared players to tackle the issues of the past, and most importantly, a little more role clarity from the captain and coach can help India win the title. With the last-minute change of venue, there are no clear advantages for any team leading into the tournament. Maybe that is why India can change the status quo in the UAE.
Squad: 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. (*Subject to fitness).