Shafali Verma or Amanjot Kaur - who should be Smriti Mandhana's opening partner for AUS vs IND Women's World Cup 2025 semifinal?

Team India is in a sudden conundrum of figuring out Smriti Mandhana's opening partner for the marquee 2025 Women's World Cup semifinal clash against Australia in Navi Mumbai on Thursday, October 30. The Women in Blue fought off inconsistencies throughout the league stage of the tournament to scrape through to the knockouts.

The hosts can thank their incredible opening pair of Mandhana and Pratika Rawal for avoiding an embarrassing first-round exit. The duo has each scored over 300 runs at averages of over 60 and 50, respectively, providing India with solid starts.

However, with Pratika's injury in India's final league-stage outing against Bangladesh and her eventual ruling out for the rest of the tournament, India were forced to draft Shafali Verma as her replacement. Pratika's injury also meant India had to open with Amanjot Kaur in the Bangladesh clash.

The young right-hander showed glimpses in her 25-ball stay, moving to an unbeaten 15. Yet, the million-dollar question on most people's minds is whether India continues with Kaur partnering Mandhana at the top or makes Shafali open in the crunch do-or-die game against Australia.

Here, we dive into the factors that should determine who, between Shafali Verma and Amanjot Kaur, should be Smriti Mandhana's opening partner for the World Cup semifinal against the Aussies.

#1 Who's better equipped to open the batting?

In isolation, there is no debate that Shafali Verma has a massive edge over Amanjot Kaur as an opener, purely based on experience and know-how. The last league stage game against Bangladesh was the first time Kaur had opened in her international career. In her previous 13 ODIs, she had batted either at No. 7 or 8, with no experience at any position in the top six.

Furthermore, Kaur has also never opened the batting in T20Is, with all eleven of her innings being from No. 5 to 8. Moving to Shafali, it is the polar opposite, with the young right-hander becoming a household name with her dashing knocks at the top of the order.

The 21-year-old has only played as an opener in all 124 international games across formats. Shafali has opened in all 29 of her ODIs, scoring over 600 runs with four half-centuries.

Given the criticality of the match against Australia and the tournament itself, Team India would be better off opting for experience over recency and opening with Shafali Verma.

Edge: Shafali Verma

#2 The better opening partnership

While Smriti Mandhana and Amanjot Kaur opened for the first time at any international level in the recent Bangladesh clash, the former has forged an incredibly successful partnership in T20Is with Shafali Verma. Mandhana and Shafali are the most prolific partnership in T20I history, with 2,76 runs as an opening combination at an average of over 36, including three century stands.

The duo feed off each other, thanks to their contrasting batting styles, and the familiarity can only help come the big game against Australia. Mandhana and Shafali have also been solid as an opening pair in the 50-over format, with a partnership average of over 37 in 25 innings.

Furthermore, the duo have been brilliant as an opening pair against Australia in ODIs, averaging almost 44 with two half-century stands in four innings. They also have 20 innings as an opening partnership against the Women in Yellow in T20Is, averaging nearly 30 with two half-century stands and a century stand.

Edge: Shafali Verma

#3 Better fit against Australia

Team India has been haunted by hindsight regrets when it comes to batting in their recent ODI tussles. Despite consistently scoring near or over 300 in their last four ODI meetings, India have lost all but one of the matches. More often than not, India have been steady in the powerplay without being spectacular against the superior side in Australia.

Hence, opting for the proven match-winner on her day, Shafali Verma, could be just the tonic that catches the Aussies off-guard. Despite being a hit-and-miss prospect, the 21-year-old's fearless approach could work wonders for India at the top in a one-off semifinal.

Shafali plundered the dominant Aussie attack at the venue of the semifinal, DY Patil Stadium, just last year in the opening T20I of the three-match series, resulting in a rare Indian win over them. Kaur opening the batting would also mean India move the youngster from her customary lower middle-order position and draft in someone else in the squad with minimal experience thus far in the tournament.

Hence, in terms of what's best against Australia and for the team balance, opening with Shafali should be the way to go.

Edge: Shafali Verma

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Conclusion

The decision on Smriti Mandhana's opening partner for the upcoming World Cup semifinal against Australia might look complex from the outside. However, once the key determining factors are broken down and analyzed, Team India should have no second thoughts about drafting Shafali Verma into the XI and at the top of the order as Mandhana's partner.

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Edited by Venkatesh Ravichandran