India Women (IND W) will take on Bangladesh Women (BAN W) in match No. 28 of the ongoing Women’s World Cup 2025 at the Dr DY Patil Sports Academy in Navi Mumbai on Sunday, October 26.In the intervening hour between India and Bangladesh’s practice sessions at the DY Patil Stadium on Saturday, dark clouds gathered overheard. The cool breeze was in sharp contrast to the heat and humidity of Navi Mumbai over this week’s action at the World Cup 2025.
After India’s session was wrapped up, Jemimah Rodrigues brought out a pickleball paddle to play fetch with her pet, who instead wanted some white-ball action and decided to field near where Fargana Hoque Pinky was taking throwdowns. A short, sharp spell of rain forced them all indoors and the main square quickly wrapped up – a precursor to what Sunday might also hold for the two teams.
India’s last game, against Bangladesh, at Navi Mumbai faces a significant rain threat. As it is, with the league stages of the World Cup winding down, Sunday’s double header carries only academic interest given the semifinals line-up is locked in. Yet, both teams have their own reasons to approach the dead-rubber with intent and focus
IND -W vs BAN -W : Previous Performances
With a semi-final spot already secured, India will look to finish the group stage on a high. India has had a rollercoaster tournament so far. After starting with convincing wins over Sri Lanka and Pakistan, they suffered three consecutive defeats against South Africa, Australia, and England.
Their qualification secured with just three wins, thanks to the many weather interruptions in Colombo, India’s would be looking to nail that delicate balance between maintaining the winning momentum and workloads of regulars ahead of the knockouts. With the semifinal against defending champions Australia, who ruthlessly dismantled South Africa in Indore to finish atop, Inda have to find a way to preserve this rhythm they hit against New Zealand while also ensuring the players remain fresh for the high-stakes week ahead.
However, the Women in Blue bounced back strongly in their must-win clash against New Zealand, clinching a 53-run victory via the DLS method to confirm their place in the semi-finals as the fourth team. Regardless of the result against Bangladesh, India will finish fourth in the standings and is likely to face either Australia or South Africa in the first semi-final on October 29 in Guwahati.
For Bangladesh, it is as much about pride as it is about final standings. Their fragile batting has often undone the games set-up by their impressive bowling attack, leaving them rooted to the points table with just a solitary win over Pakistan – who incidentally have more points all owing to washouts.
On the back of five successive defeats since, if Bangladesh are able to pull off a surprise win against the tournament hosts, they can potentially even pip New Zealand for a sixth-place finish. And that would mean a significant USD 420,000 boost in ICC prize pool earnings over the USD 280,000 they’re guaranteed now for a bottom-two finish.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh has struggled throughout the tournament, managing just one win in six games. While they have had close matches, but failed to manage to go over the line. With nothing to lose, Nigar Sultana’s team will look to produce a solid performance and spoil India’s party in their final group-stage outing.
IND -W vs BAN -W : Head to Head
India have won 6 out of 8 games (one tied) against Bangladesh, including the one in World Cup 2022. The only game they lost was in the 2023 bilateral series, wherein the last game also ended in a tie.
| Matches Played | 08 |
| IND W Won | 06 |
| BAN W Won | 01 |
| Tied | 01 |
| No Result | 00 |
| First Fixture | April 08, 2013 (IND W Won) |
| Last Fixture | July 22, 2023 (Match Tied) |
IND -W vs BAN -W : Pitch and Weather Report
The Dr. DY Patil Sports Academy pitch generally offers good bounce and consistent pace, allowing batters to play their shots freely. The surface is mostly flat, making it conducive to high-scoring contests. Fast bowlers can extract some movement early in the innings, while spinners are likely to come into play during the middle and later stages of the match. Opting to bowl first can be a wise decision at this venue.
The pitch and conditions are among the best for a high-scoring game, provided the weather holds up. It’s predicted to be a rainy weekend with about 75% precipitation expected on Sunday and, unfortunately, from morning itself.The pitch remained covered on the eve of the game with rain in the air. There’s rain forecast for Sunday evening as well. The surface has generally aided batting, while fast bowlers have tended to get early movement.
IND -W vs BAN -W : Big Picture : India look to gather momentum
India will walk into this fixture with a sense of relief and renewed confidence. Having already secured a place in the semi-finals, the pressure has shifted from qualification to maintaining momentum. After three games where things seemed to go awry, they finally hit top gear against New Zealand, led by a commanding performance from their batters.
It’s not just that. The match will be played in Navi Mumbai – the venue for both India’s semi-final and the final – a ground India know well and one where they appear to have found their ideal template. After several games of tinkering with combinations, they seemed to get it right against New Zealand, reverting to five-bowler setup, leaving allrounder Amanjot Kaur out. The move to promote the returning Jemimah Rodrigues to No. 3 also paid off, and that could open the door for further experimentation against Bangladesh.
India’s bowlers backed the batters up with precision. The seamers struck early, and the rest of the attack ensured New Zealand never recovered, forcing errors and maintaining pressure throughout.
The middle order was not tested but with knockout games approaching, time in the middle for those players could be invaluable. India have batted first in five matches so far and chased only once – losing that game to England by four runs – so they may also be tempted to test themselves in a chase, should they win the toss, to round out their preparation.
For Bangladesh, this is a chance to upset one of the tournament favourites and prove they belong on this stage. They’ve run stronger sides close in at least three games and have relied on their disciplined bowling attack, their biggest strength all tournament. There have been flashes of resistance with the bat, and if they can sustain those longer, they have a chance of stretching India.
IND -W vs BAN -W : In the spotlight – Renuka Singh and Bangladesh’s legspinners
India will look once again to Renuka Singh for early breakthroughs. Against New Zealand, she delivered exactly that. Having missed the matches against Australia and South Africa, and gone wicketless in her two previous outings, Renuka rediscovered her rhythm in Navi Mumbai.
Exploiting the early movement on offer, she teamed up with Kranti Gaud to keep New Zealand in check, not conceding a single boundary in the first six overs. Her efforts were rewarded with the wickets of Georgia Plimmer and Sophie Devine, both undone by sharp in-duckers. She finished with figures of 2 for 25 from her six overs – a spell that set the tone for India’s dominance.
Can Bangladesh’s legspinning duo of Rabeya Khan and Shorna Akter trouble India’s batters? The pair injected energy and control into their attack against Sri Lanka, bowling tirelessly in the Navi Mumbai heat. Their discipline through the middle overs stifled scoring opportunities and built pressure. Rabeya provided the key breakthrough, removing the dangerous Chamari Athapaththu and halting Sri Lanka’s momentum, while Shorna struck twice, dismissing Hasini Perera and Nilakshika Silva, to help restrict the opposition to just 202.
IND -W vs BAN -W : Vital Stats that matters
- Smriti Mandhana and Pratika Rawal have 1557 partnership runs between them across 20 innings in 2025, the second-most by any pair in ODIs in a calendar year. Only Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly are ahead, with 1635 runs in 29 innings in 1998.
- Kranti Gaud has 22 wickets in 13 ODIs so far. These are the most by an India bowler in her debut year in Women’s ODIs and only three overall have taken more – Charmaine Mason (25 in 1997), Aimee Watkins (23 in 2002) and Lyn Fullston (23 in 1982).
- Bangladesh’s bowlers have an economy rate of 4.54 in this World Cup, the same as England’s.
- Indian spinners have picked 32 wickets altogether in six games – the most by any team in this edition
- Bangladesh have lost 27 wickets to spin in six games – the second most by a team in this tournament after South Africa (31)
- India dropped have 15 catches so far in this World Cup – the most among all the teams. Their catching efficiency of 64.2 is second from bottom, after Bangladesh (48.1).
- Pratika Rawal is 24 runs away from becoming the second player to score 1000 ODI runs in a calendar year after Smriti Mandhana (1259 in 2025)
IND -W vs BAN -W : Team News for India and Bangladesh
India :
Only Harleen Deol and the four non-playing members of India’s last playing XI turned up for the optional session on Saturday amidst a drizzle. Richa Ghosh did not keep wickets post the second drinks break against New Zealand after sustaining a blow to her finger, and might just be rested as a precaution ahead of the knockouts. If not more, at least Amanjot Kaur is likely to return for Renuka Thakur.
Richa Ghosh copped a blow to her left hand while keeping against New Zealand and was off the field during much of their chase, with Uma Chetry taking the gloves. On the eve of the Bangladesh game, bowling coach Aavishkar Salvi said Ghosh was “fine and the S&C team is taking care of it,” but India were “still discussing” her availability. India went back to their five-bowler strategy in the match against New Zealand, leaving allrounder Amanjot out, and they are likely to persist with that winning combination.
India Probable XI: Smriti Mandhana, Pratika Rawal, Harleen Deol, Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Jemmah Rodrigues, Uma Chetry/Richa Ghosh (wk), Deepti Sharma, Amanjot Kaur, Sneh Rana, Sree Charani, Kranti Gaud
Bangladesh :
The visitors could swap legspinners, bringing back Fahima Khatun for Rabeya Khan.Sharmin Akter walked off battling cramps during Bangladesh’s chase against Sri Lanka but came back to bat in the final over. There are no injury concerns in the side.
Bangladesh Probable XI: Fargana Hoque, Rubya Haider Jhelik, Sharmin Akhter, Nigar Sultana (c, wk), Sobhana Mostary, Shorna Akter, Ritu Moni, Nahida Akter, Fahima Khatum, Nishita Akter Nishi, Marufa Akter
IND -W vs BAN -W : Probable Top Performers
Probable Best Batter: Smriti Mandhana
Smriti Mandhana is the highest run scorer for the Women’s World Cup 2025. The batter has played in six games and has scored 331 runs in six innings at an average of 55.16. The southpaw will be looking to once again get her team off to a good start and continue this momentum heading into the semis of the competition.
Probable Best Bowler: Deepti Sharma
Indian spinner Deepti Sharma is the second-highest wicket-taker of the tournament and will be high on confidence coming into this contest. In six games, she has plucked 14 wickets at an average of 22.35. She will be expected to be among the wickets in the upcoming encounter.
IND -W vs BAN -W : Match Prediction
For the IND-W vs BAN-W match prediction, we predict that India women will win against Bangladesh women in their ICC Women’s World Cup match. India Women are too good for Bangladesh in all departments. We predict India to win this game on Sunday.
- If India Women bat first: 280–300 runs
- If Bangladesh Women bat first: 240–260 runs
Expected Result: India Women are clear favourites to win by 40–50 runs if defending, or by 6–7 wickets if chasing, given their superior form and experience.
Also Read: Women’s ODI World Cup 2025: A Plot Twist No One Saw Coming