Since Pratika Rawal made her ODI debut in December 2024, India Women have found an elite level of consistency. Her opening partnership with Smriti Mandhana has made everyone forget about Shafali Verma.
Coming into the Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025, Pratika and Mandhana have scored 1313 runs in 17 innings at an incredible 77.23 average. Without a doubt, they are the best opening partnership at the moment.
Their success at the top has made life easy for those batting next. Building on this strong foundation, India Women have the opportunity to adopt a proactive approach and bat the opposition out of the match. This might even allow Harmanpreet Kaur or Jemimah Rodrigues to be promoted up the order after Pratika and Mandhana stitch another solid stand.
Indian batting lineup not flexible
However, former India captain Anjum Chopra doesn’t think India Women have reached that stage yet. In an exclusive interview with InsideSport, Anjum stated that the hosts aren’t ready to tinker with the batting order. The flexibility that perhaps the Australia Women have can’t be adopted yet.
So, a scenario where Harmanpreet comes out to bat with the score 140/1 won’t happen. Anjum thinks that the only batter in the current lineup who can be used flexibly is Richa Ghosh. The hard-hitting wicketkeeper was sent ahead of Deepti Sharma in the India vs Australia Women’s ODI series, but that primarily happens if about 10 or fewer overs are left.
“There is no flexibility required for anyone right now. Everyone knows their part. The Indian women’s team hasn’t developed to that point where everybody’s flexible. You have one person whose batting position is flexible, and that’s Richa Ghosh,” Anjum told InsideSport.
A look at India’s top seven further underscores this point. Apart from Richa and Mandhana, none possess the fifth gear. Deepti, who sometimes bats below the wicketkeeper, isn’t even close to run-a-ball. In fact, Harleen Deol and Pratika both have a strike rate issue. This lack of attacking depth is exactly why Anjum thinks India Women won’t and shouldn’t change things up just for the Women’s Cricket World Cup.
Most runs for India Women in ODIs since 2024
| Batter | Innings | Runs | Highest Score | Average | Strike Rate | 100s | 50s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Smriti Mandhana | 27 | 1675 | 136 | 62.03 | 105.61 | 8 | 6 |
| Jemimah Rodrigues | 23 | 808 | 123 | 38.47 | 100.49 | 2 | 2 |
| Pratika Rawal | 17 | 802 | 154 | 50.12 | 84.95 | 1 | 6 |
| Harmanpreet Kaur | 22 | 742 | 103* | 38.33 | 99.46 | 2 | 2 |
| Harleen Deol | 20 | 674 | 115 | 35.47 | 79.85 | 1 | 2 |
| Deepti Sharma | 20 | 567 | 93 | 51.54 | 92.04 | 0 | 3 |
| Richa Ghosh | 23 | 482 | 59 | 28.35 | 113.94 | 0 | 3 |
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