India failed to win against South Africa and Australia. Image Credits: AFP
India crashed out of the Women’s T20 World Cup 2026, following defeats to South Africa and Australia. They always had a herculean task being in the tougher group and never looked comfortable against the two big sides.
There was again a lot of familiarity in their mistakes, with similar issues resurfacing in crunch situations. They lacked on multiple fronts with both bat and ball.
Tepid batting approach
India had multiple batters who started slowly, and most of them never really picked up. The trend started right from the top, where Smriti Mandhana was a slow starter in the powerplay.
She had a low strike rate of 121.52 and played around 48.10% dot balls in the first six overs. This put pressure on Shafali Varma, who still tried her best to elevate the powerplay hitting.
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However, Mandhana’s poor approach meant India always left a few runs behind during the field restrictions. Shafali scored 51.40% of the team’s runs alone at a strike rate of 170.67 in this phase, while others collectively struck at 115.23.
Even outside the powerplay, India’s middle order often lacked intent and consistently batted at lower strike rates. Mandhana tried to up the ante in this period, but others were again relentlessly slow, including Shafali herself.
Between overs 7 and 16, India had a strike rate of just 128, which was better than most teams, but not high enough to compete with the best sides. Then, their slow approach in the powerplay meant they were always behind on the run rate and had to score extra runs.
India had a poor batting intent at Women's T20 World Cup 2026
Unfortunately, only Smriti Mandhana could do so. Jemimah Rodrigues struck at 131.03 and took around 7.25 deliveries for every boundary, while Shafali Verma (118.60) and Harmanpreet Kaur (116) were below par.
Mandhana's approach was definitely questionable, too, for she always tried to cover later, an approach that backfired in the must-win game against Australia. Even Rodrigues showed no signs of a power game, and India’s innings stagnated once multiple fielders went to the boundaries.
Improper usage of Richa Ghosh
During the group stage, India had an average of 27.64 and a strike rate of 128.15 against pace at the Women’s T20 World Cup 2026. Their average was lower than that of all the semifinalists, and only the West Indies (104.04) had a lower strike rate among the top four teams.
Still, India didn’t use Richa Ghosh wisely and delayed her entry points in almost every game. She arrived in or after the 15th over in all but one fixture, despite showing a proven expertise against fast bowlers.
She still struck at a whopping 183.33 against pace, the highest among all batters with at least 30 balls, but hardly got enough deliveries. On average, Richa played only 10.40 deliveries per innings, with a maximum of 17 deliveries against Pakistan.
Against Australia, India could have retired out Jemimah a lot earlier, but their non-proactive approach meant the best pace-hitter in the side could face only a solitary delivery. They saw her only as a finisher and often promoted Yastika Bhatia.
Poor pace bowling performance
Pacers were hardly effective for India during the field restrictions, despite favourable conditions at times. In the first six overs, Indian fast bowlers picked just three wickets at an average of 41.67, the third-worst among 12 teams in the competition.
Additionally, their economy rate (8.33) was the second-worst during the league stage. So, they were neither picking wickets nor containing runs with the new ball.
Renuka Thakur was the standout powerplay operator, with two scalps and an economy rate of 7.80. However, India gave her only two games, while Nandani Sharma also featured in only two matches.
Kranti Gaud, who played three fixtures, was wicketless and went for 8.75 runs per over. Meanwhile, Arundhati Reddy registered an economy rate of 10 and didn’t get any wickets across two outings.
Even in the middle and slog overs, Indian pacers hardly found ways to be effective. Between overs 7 and 16, they had the third-worst economy rate (8.90) and the fourth-worst average (44.50).
Then fast bowlers were hardly used in the death overs, and when they did bowl, they leaked runs. Pacers bowled only 9.21% of the total balls and had an economy rate of 21 in the final four sets.
India pacers were abysmal at the Women's T20 World Cup 2026
Overall, India’s pace attack registered the second-worst average (47) and economy rate (8.98) in the competition. No pacer conceded less than 8.60 runs per over or earned more than three wickets.
Kranti and Arundhati didn’t pick up any wickets. Nandani and Renuka dismissed a few batters at times, but kept leaking runs.
So, none of them supported the spin department at any stage. In favourable conditions, Indian pacers lacked the skills and variety to operate effectively, leading to easy run chases by South Africa and Australia.
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