Top Four India Players to watch out for in ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2023
Updated: Jan 17
ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2023: Top Four India Players to watch out in South Africa in World T20.
In the last five years, India Women's cricket team has left quite a remarkable footprint in international cricket with three big appearances in global tournaments finals – they emerged as Asia Cup champions, played a final against Australia in ICC T20 World Cup 2020 & the Commonwealth Games Cricket Competition 2022 final. Besides these achievements, they played out Test draws in England and Australia, won an ODI series against England on the latter’s home turf.
India Women have surely announced their arrival at the international stage and naturally, the expectations are sky high from the team. This time in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2023, Harmanpreet Kaur and Co would like to repeat the magic of Asia Cup 2022.
The selection committee on December 28 announced India’s squad for the T20 World Cup 2023.
India Women’s Squad for ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2023
Harmanpreet Kaur (captain), Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Yastika Bhatia (wk), Richa Ghosh (wk), Jemimah Rodrigues, Harleen Deol, Deepti Sharma, Devika Vaidya, Radha Yadav, Renuka Thakur, Anjali Sarvani, Pooja Vastrakar, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Shikha Pandey
Reserves: Sabbhineni Meghana, Sneh Rana, Meghna Singh
Here’s a lowdown on the four key players in India’s squad who can change the game at any point.
Read More: India Women on the right course ahead of February’s ICC T20 World Cup 2023?
The dasher from Rohtak - Shafali Verma
Teenage batting sensation, Shafali Verma, has been one of the most explosive and dangerous players in the cricket world right now. In 2019, the 15-year-old Verma became the youngest cricketer to represent India in women’s T20 international matches. In June 2021, she became the youngest player to wear an India cap in all three formats of international cricket.
Her ability to smack the ball around the ground, her attacking batting style to dominate bowlers, and to score runs quickly during the powerplay phase make her a generational talent. On October 8, 2022, Shafali became the youngest cricketer to complete 1000 runs in T20 internationals. With a strike rate of 134.53, she has the finest strike rate around the world, which makes her the most treacherous opener in the world.
Batting
Format | Mat | Inns | Runs | HS | Ave | SR | NO | 100s/50s |
WT20I | 51 | 51 | 1231 | 73 | 24.62 | 134.53 | 1 | 0/5 |
In the upcoming ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2023, Team India’s batting line-up readily depends on the opening partnership between Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma. It’s very important that both the players give their best performance. Verma cannot be only useful as a batter but she can also contribute with ball in hand. She can be used as an extra off-spinner bowler when needed. She has just started her career, and she is young and can learn many new things to enhance her game.
Bowling
Format | Mat | Inns | Wkts | Ave | SR | BBI | BBM | Eco |
WT20I | 51 | 11 | 6 | 21.50 | 21.0 | 2/10 | 2/10 | 6.14 |
Read More: Women’s T20 WC 2023: India go in with strong batting order; inexperienced bowling cause for concern
Dynamic wicketkeeper-batter Richa Ghosh
Richa Ghosh is another teenage sensation from Siliguri in West Bengal who plays for India Women as a wicketkeeper-batter. She has just played 30 T20I and 17 ODIs, and she has established herself as a finisher.
She comes down the order at the position of number six, and her ability to hit 6s and 4s is favourable for the team as she can add extra runs at death overs with her strike rate of above 134. She adds stability to the middle order by maintaining a good run rate for the team. She has established herself as Mahendra Singh Dhoni of women's cricket with some good performances both in front and behind the wicket.
Batting
Format | Mat | Inns | Runs | HS | Ave | SR | NO | 100s/50s |
WODI | 17 | 16 | 311 | 65 | 22.21 | 84.97 | 2 | 0/2 |
WT20I | 30 | 25 | 427 |