India return to the field with gold medals still fresh, but with minds already fixed on the next big prize. Fresh off winning the 50-over World Cup, the champions now begin their build-up for the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 with a five-match T20I series against Sri Lanka. It is a quick change in format, but one India know they must embrace if they are to avoid repeating past mistakes in T20 cricket.
The five match series begins tonight, with the first two games being played in Vishakhapatnam before the caravan moves to Thiruvananthapuram for the last three ties. In Sri Lanka, they have an able opponent who knows how to handle subcontinent conditions.
Upbeat Harmanpreet Kaur-led India
The memories of that night in Navi Mumbai are still fresh, and captain Harmanpreet Kaur has made it clear that the idea is not to erase them, but to build on them. Speaking ahead of the series, she said there was no need to forget the World Cup win in order to move forward. “The T20 format is one the entire team loves the most. We need to remember the things which have given us the result to be part of this stage,” Harmanpreet said.
Harmanpreet admitted the next six months will be about improvement, not comfort. “We want to play a lot of T20 cricket. We have some new players in the team. It’s the right time to give them a fair chance to understand how we have to go in the next World Cup,” she said.
“It was hectic (after the ODI World Cup win), but I want these kinds of schedules after every World Cup, so I don’t mind that. But yeah, looking forward to this series, we have been waiting for a month when we will go to the field because end of the day we enjoy ourselves on the field. So tomorrow, we are going to start our first game, really looking forward to that. It’s a very important series for us and hopefully we all give our best shot,” Harmanpreet added.
While most of the World Cup-winning squad returns, the inclusion of a couple of new names gives the team management options to explore. Vaishnavi Sharma and G Kamalini are the two fresh faces in the team.
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