Women’s World Cup 2025: For India, the semi-final won’t be about theories or history, just how they handle the occasion

As the horizon darkened in Navi Mumbai on Sunday, as the clouds got nastier, and as the heavens opened up, India and their fans would have let out a gasp of frustration. In their last ICC Women’s World Cup 2025 league game , the hosts were coasting at 57-0 chasing 126, and were well on track to finish their round-robin campaign with a pair of wins.

That may not have mattered in the grander scheme, with India already pencilled in to finish fourth, irrespective of the result. But momentum is still king in cricket (and sport), and more relevant since India did not cruise to qualification, instead doing just enough to ensure it.

It all began against another continental rival. In Guwahati, where rain, cyclically, some would say, played a bit of spoilsport, and Sri Lanka threatened to ruin the start of what was touted as a potentially watershed Women’s World Cup campaign.

On that evening, India relied on their lower middle order to dig them out of a hole. Amanjot Kaur and Deepti Sharma were the protagonists, with the bowlers then doing the needful under lights. It was a similar story against Pakistan, and while getting the job done, despite not playing well, may have been considered a sign of a team equipped to challenge, it was, on this occasion, a precursor to what was to follow.

India, after twin victories, lost thrice in succession, and in each of those games, their inability to win crucial moments stuck out . Against Australia, they got 330, but that was far less than what they were aiming for at one stage. Against England, another mini-collapse towards the end made a routine-looking chase turn into something more arduous. And against South Africa, India just could not hold their nerve as Nadine de Klerk summoned a sumptuous backs-to-the-wall knock.

Can Haman turn the tide in Navi Mumbai?

They did return to winning ways against New Zealand, putting together a display that resembled the blueprint they had begun the World Cup with , but the results prior to it, plus the fact that they did just the bare minimum, means India now have to overcome the Australian obstacle in the semi-final.

The good thing for India (if it can be called that) is that they are the only side to have beaten Australia in the semi-final of the Women’s World Cup in the ODI format. Ever. That happened more than eight years ago, in Derby, and is fondly remembered as the game where Harmanpreet Kaur’s hurricane innings swept Australia off their feet.

India could do with Harmanpreet coming to the party on Thursday, too. She has endured a middling World Cup by her standards – a 70 against England being the only standout. But she has as much pedigree as anyone in this Indian line-up. Not to mention that she is part of a very short list of cricketers who can go toe-to-toe with the Australian batting unit, in terms of power-hitting.

Harmanpreet’s big-game temperament will also be very handy. Especially against a side that is known to dominate such moments, but also for a side that has shown a vulnerability in that regard over the years. To expect that Harmanpreet’s runs would solely be enough, though, would be bordering on absurdity. Because, well, Australia are Australia. And that brings Smriti Mandhana into the equation.

She, like most of India’s top-order batters, had a tough time at the start of the tournament. But she is coming into this semi-final on the back of three consecutive fifties (in completed matches), which included a stunning century under pressure against New Zealand.

Mandhana batting for long periods will help India’s scoring rate, and it may also help blunt Australia’s biggest spin-threat aka Alana King. In the ODI series prior to the World Cup, Alyssa Healy was reluctant to use King while Mandhana was at the crease, perhaps due to the theoretically inferior leg-spin-to-left-hander match-up.

Tahlia McGrath, who stood in for Healy as skipper against England and South Africa, tended to use her earlier, but that may also have been down to neither England or South Africa having a left-hander at the crease, meaning Mandhana’s role has taken up even more significance.

Focus on Amanjot, Jemimah after Pratika’s injury

India will also need runs from everywhere in their batting order (apologies for stating the obvious), especially now that Pratika Rawal, the second-highest run-getter at the tournament, has been ruled out. It might force a greater batting gig upon Amanjot, who opened with Mandhana against Bangladesh in Rawal’s absence, or force India into options they might not have otherwise contemplated. Jemimah Rodrigues, one of the few Indian batters who can run teams ragged with her athleticism, could also be pivotal through the middle and against spin.

With the ball, India will need to keep picking wickets. In almost all of the games they have won, that has been a feature. Against Australia, they went too long without a wicket and were made to pay. Against England, that spurt came a touch too late, and against South Africa, they could not hit back when de Klerk began turning the screw.

Deepti Sharma has been a constant source of wickets, although to get past Australia, India will need their other spinners and especially their pacers to make early and consistent inroads. Not because of the destruction Healy and Phoebe Litchfield can cause, but also because Australia bat incredibly deep, and keep coming at the opposition.

India’s best chance is here

Despite all of this (and these things will be important, no doubt), the outcome of the semi-final could ultimately hinge on how well India play the occasion. And for that sort of thing, these theories, these match-ups, these past mishaps and missteps, will not count for much.

India would actually do well to not get too drawn into it either, and may be better served just focusing on what is in front of them, while having a clear framework of planning to work around and work with.

That, of course, is easier said than done. More so against a team that has won seven Women’s World Cups already, has not dropped a game at this edition, and has, almost always, found a way to get past India and tip them over the edge.

But this also remains arguably India’s best chance yet at global silverware. At home. At a venue (Navi Mumbai) where they have played loads of WPL and T20I cricket, and at a time when the memories of 2017 are just old enough to draw inspiration from, but not recent enough to remind them naggingly of how that campaign ultimately culminated.

They have been here before too. With Australia lying in wait. With the landscape turning grimmer, the clouds (metaphorically) seeming darker, and with their hopes on the verge of being washed away, and with repentance and frustration being the overriding theme.

But the sun, as is the way of the world, does rise the next day. Irrespective of what has happened the day before. And after what India have been subjected to, they will hope and perhaps even manifest the sun shining through. Just like it did in Derby all those years ago.