3 big takeaways from India's squad for women's 2024 T20 World Cup
India have announced their 15-member squad for the upcoming Women's T20 World Cup in UAE, starting October 3. The announcement came less than a day after the updated fixtures due to the tournament shifting from Bangladesh to the UAE were confirmed.
India were inches away from qualifying for the final in the previous T20 World Cup edition in 2023, suffering a heartbreaking five-run defeat to Australia in the semi-final. Despite consistently being among the top three T20I sides in the world, the Women in Blue are yet to get their hands on the T20 World Cup title in eight attempts.
India are coming off a surprising defeat to Sri Lanka in the final of the recent Women's T20 Asia Cup and their recent T20I form has been iffy at best. They have won only one of their previous four bilateral T20I series and have their task cut out to qualify for the semi-final of the upcoming T20 World Cup.
Led by Harmanpreet Kaur, India are in Group A with Asian rivals Pakistan and Sri Lanka and the Trans-Tasmanian pair of defending champions Australia and New Zealand.
On that note, let us look at the three major takeaways from the Indian squad for the 2024 Women's T20 World Cup.
India 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*, and Sajana Sajeevan.
#1 Onus on continuity
![The Indian side for the T20 World Cup is a near-carbon copy of the recent Asia Cup [Source: Getty]](https://statico.sportskeeda.com/editor/2024/08/7b439-17247525468830-1920.jpg?w=500)
The first thing that strikes us when analyzing the Indian T20 World Cup squad is the selectors' resistance to major changes from when the side last played T20Is. India suffered a convincing defeat at the hands of Sri Lanka in the recent T20 Asia Cup final and delivered a mixed bag in their previous few bilateral T20I series.
Yet, 14 of the 15 players selected for the Asia Cup have been retained with only Yastika Bhatia replacing Uma Chetry in the secondary wicketkeeper role behind Richa Ghosh.
The only other change from the Asia Cup squad is Shreyanka Patil returning and replacing Tanuja Kanwer as was the original selection for the Asia Cup until the former's injury in the Pakistan clash.
The Indian men kept faith in an established core for the 2024 T20 World Cup despite failures in the final stages of ICC events. The move finally paid rich dividends with the side winning the title. The selectors have followed a similar path with the women's squad and are reliant on continuity and team chemistry eventually resulting in the long-awaited ICC trophy.
#2 WPL Impact - High on the bowlers and all-rounders, Low on the batters?
![Shreyanka Patil has benefitted massively from the introduction of the WPL last year [Credit: Getty]](https://statico.sportskeeda.com/editor/2024/08/5dbb7-17247526979943-1920.jpg)
Here's an interesting exercise - Have the Indian squads for the 2023 T20 World Cup and the upcoming edition side-by-side and make a note of the changes. The most glaring observation will be the similarity in both batting lineups and the vast difference in the bowlers and all-rounders.
Smriti Mandhana, Harmanpreet Kaur, Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Verma, Richa Ghosh, and Yastika Bhatia are part of both Indian T20 World Cup squads, with the lone change being Dayalan Hemalatha for Harleen Deol.
While Deepti Sharma is part of both squads among all-rounders, Shikha Pandey, Sneh Rana, and Devika Vaidya are replaced by Shreyanka Patil, Sanjeevan Sajana and Asha Shobhana.
Coming to the bowlers, Renuka Singh and Radha Yadav are present in both squads. However, Anjali Sarvani and Rajeshwari Gayakwad are replaced by Arundhati Reddy and Pooja Vastrakar.
It's difficult to find batters other than those picked in the 2023 T20 World Cup squad taking the Women's Premier League (WPL) by storm since the tournament's inception last year. Yet, the all-rounders and bowlers changes in both teams stem from impressive performances from those in the upcoming T20 World Cup squad.
Shreyanka Patil and Asha Shobhana were the top two leading wicket-takers of the 2024 WPL season. Arundhati Reddy was also impressive, picking up nine wickets in eight outings at an average of 28.12 and an economy of 7.62.
Meanwhile, Sajana showed her finishing abilities in her maiden WPL campaign this year, scoring at a strike rate of over 158 and picking up two wickets with the ball.
#3 Tremendous variety in the bowling line-up
![India have almost all bases covered from the bowling front [Credit: Getty]](https://statico.sportskeeda.com/editor/2024/08/61848-17247531025042-1920.jpg)
While the established batting stars in India's T20 World Cup squad will likely hog the limelight, the bowling lineup could eventually be the difference maker for the side to clinch their maiden title.
There is tremendous variety among the bowlers, covering almost all the bases for UAE tracks that could be unpredictable. In Renuka Singh, Arundhati Reddy, and Pooja Vastrakar, India's pace-bowling arsenal possesses versatility, firepower, and an admirable balance of experience and youth.
The spin-bowling lineup is even better in quantity and quality, as India boast left-arm-spinner Radha Yadav and leg-spinner Asha Shobana to take the ball away from right-handers.
Deepti Sharma and Shreyanka Patil will own the off-spin mantle alongside part-time options of Sajeevan Sajana and even skipper Harmanpreet Kaur.