 "South Africa's Annerie Dercksen, India's Pratika Rawal and Australia's Georgia Voll are some of the youngsters to keep an eye on in the 2025 ICC Women's World Cup. Image credit: Reuters/PTI")
The 2025 edition of the Women’s World Cup is not far away, and as always, it provides a platform for several players to leave a mark. The usual suspects - the likes of Alyssa Healy, Ashleigh Gardner, Ellyse Perry, Harmanpreet Kaur, Marizanne Kapp, Smriti Mandhana and Sophie Devine - are expected to do the heavy lifting for their respective countries, but there are a lot of other young stars chomping at the bit to prove themselves.
This list delves into seven such cricketers, who may not be household names yet, but could become so by the conclusion of the tournament. Players aged 25 and under have been considered, and they should not have played more than 35 women’s ODIs either.
England’s Lauren Bell and Australia’s Phoebe Litchfield also fulfill the above criteria but are perhaps household names already.
Honourable mentions: Dewmi Vihanga, Izabelle Gaze, Marufa Akter
Pratika Rawal (India)
More than 800 runs in 17 innings - at an average of more than 50 and at a strike rate greater than 80 - has made Rawal a mainstay at the top of the order for India, with her partnership with Smriti Mandhana being a bedrock of India’s recent successes.
She is, of course, not completely without any weaknesses. Her strike rate and her inability to rotate strike freely stuck out against Australia, and for all that she has accomplished, this will be her first real taste of ICC tournament action .
Impact Shorts
More ShortsHer talent, though, is not in doubt, reiterated by how she has taken to international cricket like a duck to water. That she is being touted to reproduce her remarkable numbers so far, on the biggest stage, is more than enough testament. And more than enough for Indian fans to get excited about.
Georgia Voll (Australia)
Voll has only played a handful of women’s ODIs, but she has already chastened India. She has a hundred and a fifty against the Women in Blue, with the most recent half-century coming in a manic game in Delhi earlier this month .
She is the archetypal modern opener: blessed with extraordinary power, an incredible range of shots and a fearless mindset. She has a tendency to prefer the leg side, but when teams try to hide it outside off, she has enough wherewithal to capitalise. Not to mention her off-spin, which is useful too.
In a batting unit as stacked as Australia’s, Voll may not get a lot of playing time. But with Litchfield nursing a quad strain, and with Grace Harris ruled out of the tournament entirely, Voll is the defending champions’ only spare batter. And her being classified as a spare batter is a luxury other teams will most definitely envy.
Kranti Goud (India)
Goud has risen to prominence since the start of last season. She played a starring role as Madhya Pradesh bagged their first-ever domestic one day title, and enhanced her reputation further in the WPL, turning out for the UP Warriorz.
An India call-up followed soon after, and she has relished the bright lights of international cricket. She currently has 14 wickets in seven matches at an average and a strike rate a tick over 21, with her standout spell (6-52) coming in a series decider against England at Chester-le-Street in July this year.
Goud can get the new ball to swing, and has a habit of picking up early wickets, as she demonstrated against Australia lately. Her batting has not quite taken off, either in the WPL or for India, but word on the street is that she can become a very handy lower-order hitter. Maybe the Women’s World Cup is where that happens.
Kavisha Dilhari (Sri Lanka)
Dilhari seems to have been around forever, having made her international debut in 2018. But she is still only 24, and a case could be made that she is now playing her best cricket, both with the bat and with the ball. Chamari Athapaththu, her captain, has already showered praise on the young all-rounder, saying that Dilhari reminds her of herself, and that cannot be a bad thing for Sri Lanka.
Dilhari can bowl across phases with the ball, and can keep batters guessing with her variations. With the bat, she is coming into her own and in a batting unit that has historically struggled for firepower, she could provide the adequate injection of tempo in the middle order, perhaps pushing Sri Lanka into winning games they might not have otherwise.
Annerie Dercksen (South Africa)
Stepping into the shoes of a generational all-rounder is not easy. Kapp, over the years, has been pivotal to South Africa, often winning games single-handedly, both with the bat and the ball. The fact that Dercksen is mentioned in the conversation to eventually take over that mantle should tell you all you need to know about the young all-rounder.
She has bags of talent and like Kapp, has the potential to win matches off either suit. Her hitting is clean, and she has the power game to put bowlers under pressure, irrespective of the phase of the innings. With the ball, she can get it to move and she has a happy knack of breaking partnerships.
Her numbers in ODI cricket are not shabby either and there is no denying how high her ceiling is. And this Women’s World Cup, which will be her first major women’s ODI tournament, could be the perfect launchpad for her.
Georgia Plimmer (New Zealand)
An upcoming ICC event, world-class opposition lying in wait, but with a dearth of world-beating batting statistics – Plimmer has been here before. Famously at last year’s women’s T20 World Cup. Prior to that tournament, there were doubts over who could partner Suzie Bates at the top of the order and provide New Zealand the requisite impetus.
Plimmer, who had only shown brief glimpses of her talent until then, stood up, and how. A half-century against Sri Lanka and a tone-setting cameo against India were the highlights as New Zealand emerged from a tricky group. She also finished as the White Ferns’ joint-leading run-getter and the joint fourth-highest run-getter overall.
T20Is, of course, are vastly different to the ODI format. But Plimmer has shown previously that she is not overawed by the big occasion and despite her inexperience, could be key as New Zealand go for an unprecedented white-ball double.
Lauren Filer (England)
Pace makes you do funny things. At times, it muddles your footwork. On other occasions, it makes the mind indulge in stuff it otherwise would not have. And as batters, it often induces mistakes that should not have ordinarily happened.
Shabnim Ismail, for years, did that when playing for South Africa. But she is not around anymore in the international game. Thankfully for women’s cricket, though, Lauren Filer is and gosh, can she crank it up.
Filer, in the T20I series against India earlier this year, notched up the fastest-ever recorded over in the women’s game, clocking 79mph twice. And rumour has it that she fancies her chances of becoming the first women’s bowler ever to breach the 80mph barrier in international cricket.
On flat tracks in India, she may not get the sideways movement she is accustomed to back home. But on true batting pitches, her pace could be a point of difference.
After all, pace is pace, yaar.