The Harmanpreet Kaur-led Indian team will look to wade through the Group of Death when they begin their T20 World Cup campaign against arch-rivals Pakistan on Sunday, June 14, even as they look to ride
on their recent ODI World Cup triumph and put up another champion-esque performance in the UK.
On paper, India haven’t been among the most successful teams in the Women’s T20 World Cup. Their lone final appearance, that memorable night in 2020 when 86,174 fans packed the MCG, ended in a heavy loss to Australia.
A closer look at the results paints a less bleak picture. India remained undefeated until the semi-finals in 2018 and the final in 2020. In 2023, they were in winning positions against eventual champions Australia before letting the game slip away, while in 2024 they found themselves grouped with both Australia and eventual champions New Zealand.
This year presents a very similar challenge. The tournament has expanded to 12 teams, which means six teams form a group. India find themselves in Group A alongside Australia, Bangladesh, the Netherlands, Pakistan and South Africa.
A loss to either Australia or South Africa in either of those key games could leave India vulnerable to a group-stage exit, even if they avoid any upsets against the remaining teams.
Indian fans will still remember the disappointment of their early elimination in the 2024 edition.
Much will depend on the opening duo of Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana, one of the most dangerous partnerships in world cricket. The latter, long regarded as one of the game’s most prolific batters, took time to adapt to the increasing pace of T20s, striking at just 129 until the end of 2025.
In 2026, however, Mandhana’s strike rate has climbed to 146. Verma, meanwhile, has combined volume with aggression better than almost anyone, with no batter scoring more runs at a faster rate, while only Grace Harris matches that feat across all T20s.
But all eyes will be on how the bowling attack fares at the T20 World Cup. Star all-rounder and Player of the Tournament in the ODI World Cup final, Deepti Sharma, has been India’s most successful bowler on English soil.
Deepti will lead a bowling pack consisting of Shree Charani, Renuka Singh and Radha Yadav among others. But it needs to be seen if they can restrict teams to average targets or be able to defend small targets, which has proved a key weakness over the past few weeks.
India squad at the 2026 Women’s T20 World Cup
Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Richa Ghosh (wk), Yastika Bhatia (wk), Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Arundhati Reddy, Renuka Singh Thakur, Kranti Gaud, Shree Charani, Shreyanka Patil, Bharti Fulmali, Radha Yadav, Nandani Sharma
India schedule at the 2026 Women’s T20 World Cup
June 14: India vs Pakistan, Birmingham, 7 pm IST
June 17: India vs Netherlands, Leeds, 7 pm IST
June 21: India vs South Africa, Manchester, 7 pm IST
June 25: India vs Bangladesh, Manchester, 7 pm IST
June 28: India vs Australia, Lord’s, 7 pm IST
The India vs Australia encounter is the last match before semi-final 1 at the Oval on June 30.
