India Women’s team needs a reset — explore why it might be time to move past Harmanpreet Kaur and Amol Muzumdar.
Since Amol Muzumdar was appointed India women’s head coach on October 23, 2023, they have won 20 out of 34 ODIs at a win-loss ratio of 1.428. Of their nine away matches, they have won four resulting in a win-loss ratio of 0.800 in away games that ranks below Australia, England, and South Africa.
The side’s ODI record against the SENA countries is awful. In 23 fixtures, they have been victorious 10 times under the Harmanpreet Kaur and Amol Mazumdar duo. Their run rate of just 5.53 is too low to compete with stronger teams in the modern game.
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India’s struggles in Women’s World Cup 2025
In the ongoing Women’s World Cup 2025, India have struggled to find balance. Against South Africa, their top and middle order collapsed before the lower order rescued them, but the bowlers couldn’t defend a decent total. Against Australia, the lower order failed to build on a solid start from the top order, and the bowlers once again faltered under pressure.
In their previous clash against England while chasing 289, India needed just 57 runs from 57 balls with seven wickets in hand and a well-set Smriti Mandhana at the crease — an ideal situation. Yet, at the Holkar Stadium in Indore, India somehow turned a winning position into a painful defeat.
Harmanpreet and Madhana paced the chase beautifully after they were 42/2 in 10 overs. Their 125-run third wicket partnership in 122 balls kept India on the track. But in a game where the management replaced middle-order batter Jemimah Rodrigues with an extra bowler, Renuka Singh Thakur, the challenge was different. Either Mandhana or Harmanpreet needed to finish the chase.
This is where Mandhana faltered. Her 88-run innings lacked fluency from the start. She didn’t find her first boundary until the 23rd ball, courtesy of an outside edge. Avoiding aerial shots for most of her stay, she finally lost composure in the 42nd over, attempting to clear extra cover but ending up caught at long-off.
“Smriti’s wicket was a turning point for us, but we still had many batters,” said India’s captain after the defeat. Those ‘many batters’ were Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh, Amanjot Kaur, and Sneh Rana — all of whom contributed with the bat.
At one point, England were on the course for a 320+ total on the board, led by Heather Knight’s 109 in 91 balls. But Deepti Sharma and other bowlers dragged it back in the last seven overs. While batting, they didn’t collapse, but they couldn’t break free against England’s death overs’ planning.
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Harmanpreet Kaur & Amol Muzumdar now in firing line
Since the start of 2024, Harmanpreet has scored 883 runs in 27 innings as India’s captain. Her average of 36.79 is not characteristic of a top team’s leader. Moreover, she has recorded only two centuries in her 27 innings, one of which came in July against England.
Her struggle with the bat at number four has broken India’s momentum frequently in the 50-over format. The 36-year-old couldn’t cross the 25-run mark in the first four encounters of the World Cup 2025 before getting a 70 against England.
Meanwhile, India’s approach has lacked the spark seen in modern ODIs. They opted to leave Shafali Verma out of the 15-member squad, going with Pratika Rawal instead. While Rawal’s WODI strike rate of 81.92 isn’t far behind Verma’s 83.20, she takes time in the powerplay to settle, which puts extra pressure on Mandhana to take charge against the new ball. In modern ODIs, both openers go hard in the powerplay, especially in the sub-continent surfaces, where it becomes tough to score runs against the old ball.
In the middle and lower order, Sharma and Ghosh have played an attacking brand of cricket. It’s crucial to instill the same aggression across all eleven players. This is where Mazumdar and Co. will have to be critical.
The plan ahead for Harmanpreet & Mazumdar
There’s no doubt India’s head coach, along with their captain, is under pressure after three successive defeats. Perhaps it’s time to look for fresh faces. It’s hard to accept their struggles in home conditions, with both bowling and batting yet to click together in this campaign.
There were several tactical errors in leadership. It was hard to understand the reasoning behind sending Ghosh at eight in most matches. Even though Sharma scored a fifty against England, a better plan would have been to send Ghosh up the order to maintain the right-left combination.
It’s not all doom and gloom for India; the campaign is far from over. But with only one semi-final spot left and four teams in contention, the pressure is on. The only positive for the Blue Brigade is that all their remaining games will be at the DY Patil Stadium, a venue they know well. Their next match there will be against New Zealand on October 23.
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