3 major concerns for India after four matches in Women's World Cup 2025 ft. Batting Template 

Team India's start to the 2025 ODI World Cup has been haphazard, to say the least. Things could arguably go much worse than four points from four matches, and a fourth spot in the standings. But the fact that they have failed to put up a complete performance in familiar conditions and challenging matches lined up against England and New Zealand, definitely is a cause for concern.

The Harmanpreet Kaur-led side began their campaign with consecutive wins over Sri Lanka and Pakistan. Although those raked in the points, the cracks were completely on show, which their subsequent opponents, South Africa and Australia, exploited well.

The Women in Blue have to elevate their game if they wish to be competitive against an unbeaten English outfit and a shaky New Zealand outfit. Both the visiting sides have shown frailties over the course of their respective campaigns, and there is no reason why India cannot trigger a revival midway through the tournament to seal a place in the knockouts.

On that note, let us take a look at the three major concerns for India after four matches in the Women's World Cup 2025.

#1 Lack of a definite batting template

Batting has been a big, if not the biggest, concern for India in the 2025 ODI World Cup campaign. The department was a smooth functioning one ahead of the tournament, but a combination of pressure and poor form have struck at the wrong time.

India relied on lower-order heroics in their first set of matches, recovering from 124-6, 159-5, and 104-7 against Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and South Africa, respectively. Against Australia, it was a different story as India failed to make the most of an ideal platform to lose their way and get bowled out with seven deliveries to spare in ideal batting conditions against a champion opposition.

In all the games, there has been no evidence of composure or the execution of a template. The batting, in a nutshell, is quite frenetic in this tournament, with too much reliance on the batting depth. Losing wickets in clusters has not helped, which brings the question of how the batters have responded after the opposition's breakthrough.

Taking the contest against Australia as an example, a total of 350, or anything in excess, was possible at one stage. But India traded calculative risks and smart batting for aimless slogging and poor judgment, which proved to be the downfall in the end.

#2 Not being proactive enough to assume control

Harmanpreet Kaur's leadership has been scrutinized intensely in the first half of the World Cup campaign. The veteran's ability to control the proceedings and decision-making in the campaign is arguably debatable, with the results, especially from the situations India were in, speaking volumes.

In the contests against Pakistan and Sri Lanka, the Women in Blue were able to turn things around courtesy of their skill and temperament. Although they followed it up with the three-wicket losses to Australia and South Africa, the margin clearly suggests that they were in the game, but failed to make the most of their advantage.

South Africa were reduced to 81-5 and then 142-6, with over a 100 runs still to get. However, Harmanpreet Kaur and co. let the opposition take control, and were passive in response to the opposition mounting a comeback. The array of dropped catches did not help their case, but from a situation like that, the team should have been more ruthless.

#3 Poor game awareness

A facet of India's campaign in the World Cup that has irked fans and pundits alike is the common trend of basic mistakes, which are easily avoidable, especially at the highest level. At a time when talent, skill, and experience are not glaring issues in Indian women's cricket as before, they are selling themselves short with basic errors that have always proved to be costly in the end.

Sloppy fielding, dropped catches, recurring batting collapses, poor strike rotation, and poor decision-making that make little sense compared to the situation at hand, are all blunders that cause a ripple effect.

In that sense, there is not much growth in the team from the 2024 Women's T20 World Cup, where similar issues cost them and knocked them out before the knockouts. Expectations were rightly set high for the team, considering they were playing in familiar conditions, but the irritating zone of not being outplayed and not having outplayed anyone is a tricky spot to be in as it keeps hope in the loop.

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Edited by Gokul Nair