Will try to break that final barrier: Harmanpreet on India’s prospects at 2025 ODI World Cup

Gearing up to lead the Indian women’s cricket team for the first time in an ODI World Cup, Harmanpreet Kaur is determined to end India’s wait for a maiden senior ICC title when the marquee tournament starts September 30.

Kaur, who along with vice captain Smriti Mandhana and middle-order batter Jemimah Rodrigues, came together in Mumbai for the ‘50 days to go’ event for the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025, acknowledged the pressure and fun at the prospect of playing the tournament in front of home crowd.

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“The plan is the same as my first ODI World Cup. I want to go there and enjoy my cricket, but playing in front of the home crowd is always special,” Kaur said at the ‘50 Days To Go’ event in Mumbai. “This time, I hope we will give our 100 per cent and try to break that final barrier that we have all been waiting for.”

Kaur believes India will head into the tournament brimming with confidence after recent successes, including their series win in England.

“The confidence is very high. The kind of cricket we’ve played over the last couple of years, gives us a lot of confidence.”

Echoing her captain’s optimism, opener Smriti Mandhana credited a shift in mindset within the team in recent years.

“The mindset has changed over the last two or three years. There’s a calmness with which I want to go about on the field,” Mandhana said. “Our whole team is heading in that direction. We know where we want to work hard. And when we enter the field, we know we’ve just got to implement.”

Mandhana added that the focus was on staying in the present rather than chasing milestones.

“Whenever we’ve done well (on the field), everything else has taken care of itself. We are preparing really really well. We’ve had a preparation camp. We’ve had an England tour. We’ve one tour ahead of the World Cup. To be honest, that’s the only thing we are thinking about.”

Middle-order mainstay Jemimah pointed to the Women’s Premier League as a key factor in boosting the confidence of newcomers. She highlighted the emergence of 22-year-old pacer Kranti Gaud, who topped the wicket charts in India’s 2-1 ODI series win in England with nine scalps, including a six-wicket haul.

“What the WPL has done has given youngsters a platform to perform and get into the Indian team. There’s not as much pressure as on international debut,” Rodrigues said. “In this team, we see that. We look at Kranti (Gaud), she’s fearless. That attitude is so nice to see that it pushes each one of us.”

Former India captain Mithali Raj, who led the side in the last edition, felt the team’s recent performances made them strong contenders.

“The way the team has been doing over the last one year, not just in ODIs, but in T20Is. A wonderful series in England, beating England in England,” she said. “I can see with their confidence, and being there in the home World Cup. I think nothing better.”

Impact of 2017 World Cup

India will aim to go one step further than in 2017, when they reached their second Women’s Cricket World Cup Final before falling narrowly to England at Lord’s. That tournament left a lasting mark on Indian women’s cricket.

Among the standout moments was Harmanpreet Kaur’s blistering unbeaten 171 against Australia in the semi-final. “That knock was something really special to me. Special to the entire women’s cricket. After that knock, a lot of things changed for me and women’s cricket,” Kaur said.

“That time I didn’t realise (its impact). But when we returned back to India, even though we lost the final, the amount of people that were waiting and cheering for us, it was really special.”

Mandhana, who played her first World Cup in 2017, remembered the tournament fondly after scoring 232 runs, including a century against the West Indies.

“We all remember that World Cup. Not just my century, we remember each other’s innings as well,” she said. “To witness that 171 (from Harmanpreet Kaur). Everyone came together in that World Cup. Not just the World Cup but what followed. The kind of welcome we got back from the fans. The way things changed after that World Cup.”

Rodrigues, then a budding cricketer, recalled going to the airport to welcome the team back.

“I remember all these people, they were tired and at the same time disappointed, because they were so close, and yet it felt so far,” she said. “And they walked out of the airport thinking nobody was going to be there. And I can tell you at 5:30 in the morning, the whole airport was packed with crowd. People right now would think that that’s normal. But at that time, for women’s sport, it wasn’t. I remember this whole bunch of players coming in and going back, because they weren’t expecting it.”

India will begin their World Cup 2025 campaign against Sri Lanka at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on September 30.