India Women’s Cricket World Cup Squad for 2025 World Cup: Harmanpreet Kaur to Lead, Shefali Verma Misses Out
Indian Women’s Cricket World Cup Squad: Harmanpreet Kaur to lead, Smriti Mandhana as vice-captain. Find out why Shefali Verma was left out and more about the team’s preparations for the tournament.
Kevin Varchand 
Mumbai (India) August 19: The next big tournament for Indian Women Cricket Team is World Cup. The Indian team’s squad was announced on Tuesday. The squad has some surprises, notable the star attacking batter Shefali Verma has not been picked in the side. The captaincy duties will done by Harmanpreet Kaur while the vice captaincy will be done by Smriti Mandhana.
India announced World Cup Squad
The 2025 edition of the tournament, scheduled to be held in India, presents Harmanpreet and her team with a golden opportunity to script something special for home fans. The competition begins on September 30, with India opening their campaign against Sri Lanka.
India are still in pursuit of their maiden World Cup title. The closest they came was in 2017, when Mithali Raj’s team reached the final at Lord’s, only to fall short against England in a heartbreaking finish. Besides the World Cup squad, chief selector Neetu David and captain Harmanpreet also announced the team for the upcoming series against Australia.
Captain Harmanpreet Kaur is Ready
“Personally, this tournament is very important for me. This is a home World Cup. Home World Cups for special for every player. I have a lot of experience batting at No.4, I am just looking to contribute to the team,” Harmanpreet told reporters on Tuesday.
“We are really excited for the World Cup. We are having training camps. We are preparing ourselves mentally and physically,” she added.
Shafali Verma missed out
Shafali, the hard-hitting opener, last featured in a W-ODI for India in October 2024, but a dip in consistency led to her omission. While Neetu David did not directly elaborate on the reasons behind her snub, she emphasised that the doors remain open for Shafali’s return.
“She is playing for India A in Australia. She is a part of the system. We are keeping an eye out for her. The more she plays, the more experience she will gain for the future,” David added.
“Our team did well in England. We have been working on this squad for a long time now. I think the team we have picked is the best, so we don’t want to play around with the team ahead of the World Cup. We just want Shafali to keep playing and gain some experience.”
