Former Indian Test opener Aakash Chopra has opined India has good chances to win the upcoming Women T20 World Cup in England. In 2025, India won their maiden ODI World Cup and they would look to continue their white-ball form.

Chopra reckons Shafali Verma and Smirti Mandhana, who has an impressive record in English conditions, will hold the key for India in the Powerplay overs. The renowned commentator believes it will be imperative for one of these openers to play a big knock in the T20I showpiece.

Similarly, Chopra feels it would be pivotal for India to control the game with the ball in the first six overs of field restrictions.

“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,” Chopra said.

“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.

The former Delhi cricketer added that the onus will be on Harmanpreet Kaur and Richa Ghosh to make the most of the death overs.

“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,” he observed.

India Women will begin their T20 World Cup campaign against Pakistan Women on Sunday at Edgbaston, Birmingham.