ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2020: India Women fixtures, key players, squad, prediction

After their dismal show at home in 2016, India Women came back strongly to convincingly beat every team in the league – including both New Zealand and Australia – in the 2018 edition. They were then knocked out following a defeat against England in the semi-final.

Once again India have been pitted against the same two sides in the group stage. However, while the Indian spinners were all over the opposition on the slow, low West Indian pitches the 2018, they may not be as effective on hard, bouncy Australian pitches.

As the WBBL demonstrated, the tournament is likely to be dominated by pace – and that is one of two weak departments for India. Shikha Pandey has impressed throughout 2019, but her support cast – Pooja Vastrakar and Arundhati Reddy – have not exactly set the grass on fire.

Middle-order batting and lack of quality all-rounders is another weak spot for India, as was evident in the Tri-Nation T20 tournament in Australia this month. While Shafali Verma, Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues, and Harmanpreet Kaur have all got runs, the others, starting No. 5 and below, have not oozed much confidence.

However, their strong spin attack – so strong that they will have to leave out of Poonam Yadav, Radha Yadav, Deepti Sharma, and Rajeshwari Gayakwad out of the playing XI – is one to die for. Whether they will field all four spinners, however, is something that needs to be seen.

Key players

Shafali Verma: Uninhibited and brutal with bat, 16-year-old Verma has already established herself as India’s premium power hitter at the top. Her strike rate of 141 bear testimony to that, as does her record of hitting a boundary every 4.5 balls.

Smriti Mandhana: The leading scorer in the Tri-Nation tournament, Mandhana has not only matched Verma stroke for stroke at the top, but has also held the Indian innings together during those steep chases. It was Australia where she had established herself four years ago; it is time for her to take her career to the next level.

Poonam Yadav: Poonam, already a champion of flight, guile, and accuracy, rose to the stature of India’s premier bowler once she aced a quicker googly. Her diminutive frame allows her to toss the ball up from a lower altitude, making it extremely difficult for batters to read.

Squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Taniya Bhatia (wk), Harleen Deol, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Richa Ghosh, Veda Krishnamurthy, Shikha Pandey, Arundhati Reddy, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Pooja Vastrakar, Shafali Verma, Poonam Yadav, Radha Yadav.

February 21: vs Australia at Sydney Showground Stadium, Sydney
February 24: vs Bangladesh at WACA, Perth
February 27: vs New Zealand at Junction Oval, Melbourne
February 29: vs Sri Lanka at Junction Oval, Melbourne

Prediction

They will need to beat at least one of Australia and New Zealand to make it to the top four.