Harmanpreet: 'This time we will cross the line'

Asia Cup 2024. Commonwealth Games 2022. T20 World Cup 2020. At all those tournaments, India Women lost in the final. But as they get ready to co-host the 2025 ODI World Cup, captain Harmanpreet Kaur is confident that "this time we will cross the line".

"No doubt we have been through these situations many times," Harmanpreet said at the captains' meet in Bengaluru. "We have been playing good cricket, and it's only about going with good confidence and doing the things the way our team is expecting from us. At the same time, we have been only talking about enjoying this moment rather than thinking [about] what happened in the past. We have learned a lot from our mistakes, and hopefully, this time, we will be on the other side."

This will be Harmanpreet's fifth ODI World Cup, but first as captain. While she described the feeling of leading India in a home World Cup as "unbelievable", she does not want her team to take "too much pressure" as they chase their maiden title.

"Leading your country is always very special for any player, but leading your country in [an] ODI World Cup is even more special," she said. "On top of that, it is a home World Cup, so it's even more special. When I started playing, I never even thought I would get the opportunity to lead my country… it was only in a dream. Everything altogether is exciting.

"I just want to go there and enjoy, and play my best cricket. That's what I've been telling myself and my team. The ODI World Cup is happening [in India] after 12 years, and I think it is going to be very amazing for all of us. It's all about not taking too much pressure."

India have won ten of their 14 ODIs in 2025, with Smriti Mandhana playing a key role with 928 runs - comfortably the most for any batter this year.

"She has been great," Harmanpreet said of Mandhana. "The way she is batting nowadays is something really exciting to watch. When I'm batting with her, things become quite easy on the pitch. You don't need to stress so much because she is always there to help. Having her in my team is a big strength."

India's only away game during the group stage is against Pakistan in Colombo. At home, they play in Guwahati, Visakhapatnam, Indore and Navi Mumbai. Of those grounds, only Visakhapatnam has hosted a women's ODI previously, in 2014. But Harmanpreet isn't too worried about the unfamiliarity with the conditions.

"The wickets are going to be flat," she said. "We will get a few practice sessions there to get used to the conditions and the pitches. It's really about being in a good space. Even though this World Cup is in India, we are not very familiar with the stadiums we are going to play at. But we have enough data to see how the conditions and the pitch are."

With seven titles, defending champions Australia are the most successful team in the Women's ODI World Cup. But their captain Alyssa Healy feels "every team is on equal footing" this time.

"I firmly believe that this is going to be the tightest World Cup that we have been a part of," she said. "Defending a title is not easy. Obviously, no one has really done it for a long period of time, but it's not really about that. Every team is here to win the World Cup. We know what we need to do. We have got to beat every single side in the world to be able to lift that trophy at the end."

The numbers are stacked in Australia's favour - they have lost just two of their 18 ODIs since the start of 2024, a run that includes beating India in India 2-1 earlier this month. But they are not complacent.

"I don't think it's quite in the Australian culture to get too complacent about things at any point in time," Healy said. "People tend to write more about us when we lose than when we actually win. It's quite a nice thing to experience. I feel like I'm part of a really special group at the moment that wants to be better every single day. They are working to improve themselves both on and off the field, which I think is a really great place to be.

"The fact that that mindset's already in place just allows them to go out there and enjoy their cricket on the field. And that's basically as simple as it gets. We go out there, we compete as hard as we possibly can, and hopefully the results go our way."

Healy believes it could come down to how a team handles the pressure.

"I think conditions could potentially change throughout the World Cup," she said. "It's just [about] adapting to them as quickly as possible, and knowing that you have got that depth in your side to make that happen. But I think it's going to be about who can hold their composure the longest in this tournament and handle the pressure for long periods of time. You are going to have to sustain pressure at different points in time, and put it back on the opposition when you get the opportunity."