Harmanpreet Kaur, the Indian captain, hasn’t had the best of starts with the bat in the ongoing ICC Women’s ODI World Cup 2025 despite her team getting the better of Sri Lanka and Pakistan comfortably. With just 40 runs in two innings to her name, the 36-year-old will be looking to improve her performances as a batter in the remainder of the tournament, to bring home the coveted silverware in Indian colours for the first-time ever in the history of women’s cricket.
In one of her recent interviews with Star Sports, former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra addressed the Women in Blue and more specifically Harmanpreet Kaur about her status and what’s expected of her in the ongoing World Cup. He said, as per Indian Express, “There will be pressure.
Firstly, you are the captain. This is your fifth World Cup, the first as a captain, and it might be in her mind that this could probably be the last as well. It’s very unlikely that she will be in the next ODI World Cup. So the pressure is there.”
If a team’s leader doesn’t score runs, the team becomes slightly weak: Aakash Chopra on Harmanpreet Kaur
After stating that the pressure is on Harmanpreet Kaur to perform in what could be her last Women’s ODI World Cup, Aakash Chopra also remarked, “If the others are also getting starts and not converting them into big scores, publicly, you say everything is okay, but in your heart, you know that you need to contribute. If a team’s leader doesn’t score runs, doesn’t perform from the front, the team becomes slightly weak. So the captain has to score. She will definitely be feeling slight pressure.”
India are currently in top spot in the ICC Women’s ODI World Cup 2025 standings with four points after winning their first two matches in Guwahati and Colombo. Australia are in second place with three points in two matches after their previous clash against Sri Lanka got washed out in Colombo, while England and Bangladesh occupy third and fourth spot respectively with wins in their opening matches of the tournament.
In their next match in the tournament, India will play against South Africa on Thursday, October 9, at the ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam after the latter got the better of New Zealand comfortably by six wickets earlier today.
