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ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 is all set to start from June 12, and India will play their first match on June 14, against their arch-rivals, Pakistan. Ahead of the tournament opener, former India opener, now a cricket expert and commentator, Aakash Chopra offers a detailed preview on whether the Indian Women’s team could claim the throne in the global event.
Needless to say, the 12-team competition is going to be highly entertaining and competitive. Along with the home nation England, there are multiple teams who has enough firepower to reach the final of the T20 World Cup 2026.
Can India win the Women's T20 World Cup?
Can India win the tournament? The expectations will be high on the Harmanpreet Kaur-led team as they won the ODI WC. Kaur and his girls will try to repeat the same.
According to Aakash Chopra, the Women in Blue's chances to win the T20I event will depend on their performance during the powerplays throughout the tournament. Chopra prescribes India to do well both with the bat and the ball during the powerplays.
Focus will be on the opening pair of Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Varma
The stakes will be on the higher side when the vice-captain, Smriti Mandhana, and Shafali Varma walk into the ground to open the innings. The team’s future could be influenced by the performances of the openers.
“The Indian girls have won the 50-over World Cup. Can they win the 20-over World Cup? That's the big question. It's a good team. Where do you win T20 games? One is if you control the Powerplay with the bat and with the ball. With the bat, Shafali Varma's consistent avatar is very, very good," the former cricketer said on his YouTube channel ‘Aakash Chopra’.
“Smriti Mandhana will be there with her. Smriti Mandhana in England is another beast altogether. She has scored a lot of runs there. So, Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma, as your Powerplay players, can actually control the game. One of them should bat deep into the innings, which they can," he added.
In the death overs, too, the Women in Blue will need to score in the death overs as well. Richa Ghosh and Harmanpreet Kaur will have to take the responsibility to score as many runs as possible in the last few overs of an innings.
“Then followed by Yastika Bhatia, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet Kaur, and Richa Ghosh. The last five overs' responsibility will be on Richa Ghosh and Harmanpreet Kaur. You will expect Deepti Sharma to continue playing as attackingly as she has started doing in the WPL. It seems like we are actually quite set in batting. We are as good as any other World Cup team in batting," Aakash Chopra mentioned.
Aakash Chopra wants to see the pacers as well in England
Chopra is hopeful to see the Indian pacers taking a crucial role in this T20 World Cup, as, traditionally, pacers get extra assistance from the English conditions.
“In bowling, again, the Powerplay overs, whether it's Renuka Singh Thakur, Arundhati Reddy, or Kranti Gaud, the focus will be on them. Even if Nandani Sharma plays, she will have a bigger role in the death overs. Since it's England and it would swing, Renuka Singh Thakur's value increases," he said.
