ICC Women’s ODI World Cup still not won, as Harmanpreet’s India remain far from perfect before final

We will see the first-ever champions as India and South Africa meet at the ICC Women's ODI World Cup final.

The entire nation went into jubilation when Amanjot Kaur cut Sophie Molineux for a boundary and sealed India’s greatest run chase in the history of one-day international cricket, irrespective of the gender. Beating a team that has not lost for 15 consecutive World Cup matches, beating a team that is known to be the world’s best by a huge margin – Harmanpreet Kaur’s team pulled off a miracle.

Jemimah Rodrigues played an innings of a lifetime. She was down and out at one point. But losing her captain after a match-changing 176-run stand changed everything for her. Despite battling snubs and going out for ducks earlier in the tournament, Jemimah put on a masterclass and has now written one of the most important chapters that could see a seismic shift in the book of Indian women’s cricket.

India is worst fielding unit

But the job is far from over. India might have knocked out the favourites, but it would mean nothing if they don’t pull up well on Sunday. All this euphoria will go down the drain if South Africa plays party poopers to India in a much-awaited ICC Women’s World Cup final clash in Navi Mumbai. While an all-timer innings from Jemimah saved the grace for the Women in Blue in the semis, this Indian team would need to psych up and iron out the flaws that still remain.

The biggest and the most obvious being the fielding. A department which is never dependent on a player’s form is fielding but the Indian team keeps getting worse game by game. They put in an abysmal effort against Australia too, leaking a total of 22 more runs via misfields and overthrows. Moreover, the catching left a lot to be desired too. India have dropped a total of 18 catches in the tournament, easily the most by any side. Harmanpreet Kaur herself dropped a dolly earlier in the semis.

India’s fielding stats in the tournament

Catches taken: 35
Catches dropped: 18 (most)
Catching efficiency: 66% (second-worst)
Stumpings missed: 3 (joint-most)
Misfields: 74 (most)
Balls with overthrows: 6 (most)

In all the fielding metrics, this Indian team is either the worst or the second-worst at the ICC Women’s ODI World Cup. In the summit clash, the pressure will be extremely high and you can expect some more catches to be dropped straightly due to the added pressure.

India’s bowling can easily be countered

Apart from this, India lacks depth in bowling. No doubt that Shree Charani (2/49) delivered a great spell and Deepti Sharma (17 wickets as of now) might end up with the most wickets in the tournament. But there are plenty of problems with the ball in hand. If Renuka Thakur doesn’t find swing early on, she is half the bowler. Also, India have been extremely defensive in their approach, with captain Harmanpreet not putting up attacking fields.

It looks like India come out with Plan A but don’t move anywhere else even when the opposition counters it. This is something we saw in the group stage match against South Africa as well when India bottled an easy defence of 251. SA were on the mat at 81/5, and yet the Indian bowlers failed to close out the innings.

The fact that India has the worst bowling economy (5.45) is in itself quite alarming. And in the final, they are going up against the team that has the best economy (4.78) among teams who have taken 40 or more wickets. It says a lot, especially about India’s death bowling, which is non-existent. There is a huge dependency on someone like Deepti, who can have her bad days as well. Renuka isn’t a death bowler, and neither is Kranti Goud.

Smriti Mandhana’s time to step up

India lost Pratika Rawal at an awful juncture. In a dead rubber against Bangladesh, the youngster twisted her ankle in what was a painful sight to watch. Now, India were forced to bring in Shafali Verma, who remains talented but far from consistent. Despite all her talent, she averages less than 23 in ODIs and that might play a part in the final, as the pressure will once again be on Smriti Mandhana.

Mandhana will fight her own demons of playing in the ICC knockouts. While she remains the ICC No. 1 ranked W-ODI batter, Mandhana has a horrible record in the do-or-die games. In ODI World Cup knockouts, she has made 30 runs at an average of 10, while it is 47 runs at 15.66 in T20 World Cup semi-finals and finals. In the semifinal against Australia, Mandhana looked in great touch until she was strangled down the leg.

Mandhana’s poor form in the ICC knockouts is a major cause of concern for India. While Jemimah may have played the best innings of her life, the onus will be on the experienced Mandhana, who would love to keep the historic records in the past. Despite all the flaws that remain, this Harmanpreet Kaur-led side has shown that they have built up that tenacity and temperament to win. It will all be about the team that doesn’t ‘choke’ in the night of the finals. After all, you don’t need to be an inch-perfect team to win a World Cup. Just ask Australia’s men’s team about their ODI World Cup 2023 campaign.

Mandhana record in ICC Knockouts

• 6 v AUS (2017 WC Semis)
• 0 v ENG (2017 WC Final)
• 34 v ENG (2018 T20WC Semis)
• 11 v AUS (2020 T20WC Final)
• 2 v AUS (2023 T20WC Semis)
• 24 v AUS (2025 WC Semifinal)*
• ** vs SA (2025 WC Final) (India hope for the best)