The Spin | Womenâs T20 World Cup: team-by-team guide to the tournament
Group A Australia Coach Shelley Nitschke Captain Sophie Molineux WT20WC best: Winners 2010, 2012, 2014, 2018, 2020, 2023 Si time champions Australia may still be
Group A Australia Coach Shelley Nitschke Captain Sophie Molineux WT20WC best: Winners 2010, 2012, 2014, 2018, 2020, 2023 Si time champions Australia may still be the bookiesâ favourites, but for the first time itâs possible to imagine a scenario where they donât make the semi-finals - Group A is by far the tougher. By choosing left-arm spinner Molineux as their new captain in January, theyâve arguably backed themselves into a selection corner, with the leg-spinner Alana King likely to be left out of the XI despite being their most effective bowler on the recent tour of the West Indies. View image in fullscreen Ellyse Perry, the great Australia all-rounder, will be playing at her 10th Womenâs T20 World Cup. Photograph: Mike Egerton/PA Molineuxâs own match fitness is also far from a sure thing: she has ongoing back issues, her bowling capacity may well be limited, and if she was not captain then there is no way she would be selected in this team as a pure batter. One is rather reminded of a remark from W1Aâs marketing guru Siobhan Sharpe: âWe are where we are, and thatâs never a good place to be.â Key player Ash Gardner She was reportedly gutted not to have been made captain but, after a relatively dry spell, the all-rounder needs to accept it, move on and step up with the bat. Bangladesh Coach Sarwar Imran Captain Nigar Sultana Joty WT20WC best Group stages 2014, 2016, 2018, 2020, 2023, 2024 This World Cup will be unfamiliar territory for Bangladesh, literally: they have never previously toured England. âIt will be very challenging for us,â Joty admitted at the captainsâ press conference on Sunday. âThe wickets and the conditions are totally different from Asia.â They have been acclimatising by playing a tri-series in Edinburgh against Scotland and the Netherlands but the results - two wins, two losses - were not particularly encouraging. View image in fullscreen Bangladesh lost against Ireland and New Zealand in their official warm-up games. Photograph: Matthew Lewis-ICC/ICC/Getty Images Key player Marufa Akter The 21-year-old had England in tatters in Octoberâs 50-over World Cup with her hooping inswing, and will be Bangladeshâs key strike bowler in this format too. India Coach Amol Muzumdar Captain Harmanpreet Kaur WT20WC best Runners-up 2020 India are a tough team to make predictions about. Their stated aim is to emulate the achievement of Meg Lanningâs Australia and become a team who dominate world cricket for a generation. They made a good start on that process in Navi Mumbai last November when they romped home in the 50-over World Cup final. Since then they have visited Australia and handed them a T20 series defeat, followed that up by losing 4-1 to South Africa, and darted between the sublime and the ridiculous against England, eventually losing 2-1. View image in fullscreen Harmanpreet Kaur led India to their first senior womenâs ICC title, the 2025 ODI World Cup. Photograph: Punit Paranjpe/AFP/Getty Images The rollercoaster nature of that series was epitomised by the fortunes of Yastika Bhatia, who made a match-winning half-century on her return to the side after a two-year injury-enforced absence, only to be controversially retired out two days later at Bristol. Watch out for pace bowler Nandani Sharma, who made her international debut last month against England on the back of a WPL hat-trick and has looked the goods.
