Women’s World Cup 2025: Renuka Thakur makes her way back to India squad; Shafali doesn’t feature

Women’s World Cup 2025: Big boost as Renuka Thakur returns, Shafali Verma dropped from India Women’s squad.

The attacking opening batter of the India women’s side, Shafali Verma, has failed to make the cut for the upcoming Women’s ODI World Cup 2025 at home. Meanwhile, their premier fast bowler, Renuka Singh Thakur, has returned to the 15-member squad after a long injury layoff. 

The upcoming three-match home series against Australia in September will potentially be Thakur’s first international assignment since December 2024. She was ruled out of the tri-series in Sri Lanka, involving South Africa, post the WPL 2025, with a stress fracture. The pace bowling all-rounder, Amanjot Kaur, has also been included in the World Cup squad, after being rested for the Australia series. 

Shuchi Upadhyay and Sayali Satghare, who were part of the recent ODI series in England, have been left out of the main squad. The Blue Brigade will play the curtain-raiser on September 30 against Sri Lanka at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. 

Read More: Who is Shree Charani, India Women’s young left-arm spinner?

India’s squad for ICC Women’s ODI World Cup 2025 
Harmanpreet Kaur (captain), Smriti Mandhana, Pratika Rawal, Harleen Deol, Deepti Sharma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Renuka Singh, Arundhati Reddy, Richa Ghosh, Kranti Goud, Amanjot Kaur, Radha Yadav, Shree Charani, Yastika Bhatia, Sneh Rana.

Stand-by players: Tejal Hasabnis, Prema Rawat, Priya Mishra, Uma Chetry, Minnu Mani, and Sayali Satghare. 

India back experience in batting department for home ODI World Cup 
Verma was dropped from the 50-over side of the national team after poor returns of 644 runs in 29 innings at an average of 23. Her last ODI clash came in October last year against New Zealand at home. A couple of days ago, the 21-year-old smashed 52 runs in 59 balls during the third encounter for India A against Australia A. 

However, she has lacked the skill of putting big scores on the board. Pratika Rawal, who took over Verma’s spot in the format last year, has been impressive across her 14 ODIs for 703 runs at 54.07. 

Vice-captain, Smriti Mandhana, will look to play a crucial role in the eleven at the opening position. During the tri-series in Sri Lanka, the southpaw smashed 264 runs in five innings with one fifty and one century. However, she struggled to find the big scores with two 40+ knocks in England.

Captain Harmanpreet Kaur got the monkey off her back, thanks to the 102-run knock in Chester-Le-Street. Harleen Deol will also be a vital member at number three in the line. Jamimah Redrigues, at number five, will also be a crucial member of the side. During the England trip, she scored 101 runs in three innings at a strike rate of nearly 95.

One of the players who always goes under the scanner of the women’s side is their wicket-keeper batter, Richa Ghosh. The 21-year-old has a career strike rate of nearly 100 in ODIs. During the last encounter against England, she scored an unbeaten knock of 38 runs in just 18 balls. Such knocks will be crucial for India to get fiery finishes.

Yastika Bhatia, whose last ODI came in October 2024, is also in the squad. She is most expectedly to be the backup wicket-keeping option to Ghosh. 

Read More: Smriti Mandhana becomes first Indian woman with centuries across formats 

Renuka Thakur and Deepti Sharma to handle pace-spin combination 
Renuka Thakur will be another essential member of the side. She would be the leader of the pace attack, having already gained 35 wickets in 19 innings at an average of 22. However, the three games in Australia will be crucial for her to get back in rhythm post-injury. India would hope to see her new ball bowling at the best. 

Amanjot has risen through the ranks to become one of their key all-rounders. She was not available for the last two ODIs against England with a back injury. Kranti Goud finished as the leading wicket-taker in the England ODIs, including 6/52 in Durham. She is also in the squad alongside Arundhati Reddy. 

Sneh Rana burst into the team with an excellent comeback during the Sri Lanka tri-series. The off-spinner ended as the highest wicket-taker with 15 scalps in five innings at an average of 14. Shree Charani is the other specialist spinner in the squad along with Deepti Sharma and Radha Yadav. 

Sharma’s performance will balance the eleven. The 27-year-old has the skill to bat in the lower order or come at the top if the side has lost wickets in a cluster. In the middle overs with the ball, she has displayed the skill of picking regular wickets. 

The pressure will be immense on the Harmanpreet Kaur-led side, more so because of it being a home World Cup. They never won the title but have made the final twice in 2005 and 2017. In Amol Mazumdar’s coaching, they will aim to go a step better than those two editions. 

Read More: Smriti Mandhana registers 8th hundred in WODIs; Is she the greatest woman batter of India?