Women’s World Cup 2025: Alex Hartley’s players to watch and team predictions

It feels like India’s golden opportunity with a World Cup mostly on home soil, and with the benefits of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) – its franchise T20 tournament – starting to shine through.

The Indian grounds being used for the group stages (Guwahati, Indore and Visakhapatnam) are unfamiliar to them but they should enjoy the advantages of home crowds.

They outplayed England over the summer, particularly impressing with how much they have improved in the field and their athleticism.

Harmanpreet Kaur is a very experienced leader, their batting is beautifully led by Smriti Mandhana, and they were boosted by the return of seamer Renuka Singh Thakur during the Australia series.

But one of the most exciting talents to emerge against England was 22-year-old quick Kranti Goud, who overcame a nervous start on debut to finish with nine wickets in three matches including 6-52 in the series decider at Chester-le-Street.

“You can expect some inconsistency from Goud because she is still so raw, but her early impact has been so promising,” said Hartley.

“She’s got a really strong action, gets good seam movement and I love her confidence. The other teams won’t know much about her yet, as we saw her take England by surprise, which could also be a key factor.”

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