ICC Women’s ODI World Cup 2025: India Aims For Winning Start Against Co-Hosts Sri Lanka

The Women in Blue India will aim for a winning start to the tournament when they clash with co-hosts Sri Lanka in Guwahati in the tournament opener on 30th September 2025. It’s the clash of the two hosts to kickstart what will be a long 50-over tournament culminating on the 2nd of November 2025. Both teams India & Sri Lanka will have excitement and nerves as well to kickstart this extravaganza.

The Women in Blue will be led by Harmanpreet Kaur and the team has got a good mix of youth and experience alongside good variety in spin bowling to challenge strong sides. India will be one of the contenders to do well, but are not the outright favourites for the tournament. They will want to get off to a winning start for sure. Sri Lanka will once again be dependent on Chamari Athapaththu as she is the central figure for them. But there are others who can also chip in. All in all, we are set for the Women’s ODI World Cup to begin.

Overview. 

Indian cricket may be reaching new highs in Men’s department, but the Women in Blue are in pursuit of their first major ICC trophy in senior cricket. On this occasion, they have a golden opportunity to create history as they have a home World Cup, a team in form and familiar conditions as well. If they fail to win the tournament, the lingering question will be if not now, then when.

The tournament is set to kick-off with hosts India Women taking on Sri Lanka Women at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati. Harmanpreet Kaur will lead an Indian side that boasts a mix of experience and youthful exuberance.

India have reached the final twice but ended up on the losing side on both occasions. In 2005, they were thrashed by Australia, while in 2017, it was a heartbreak that fell just nine runs short against England at Lord’s Cricket Ground. Smriti Mandhana is in sublime form. The left-hander scored 928 runs this year in 14 matches in the 50-over format. Pratika Rawal has cemented her place at the top and formed a formidable partnership with Mandhana.

Jemimah Rodrigues missed the last series before the marquee event against Australia due to injury, but she has recovered in time and impressed in a warm-up game, scoring 66 against England in a losing cause. India lost wicket-keeper batter Yastika Bhatia to a knee injury, and she has been replaced in the squad by Uma Chetry.

Harleen Deol has been scoring runs consistently but needs to work on her strike rate, especially against stronger teams. Deepti Sharma, Sneh Rana, and Arundhati Reddy are the all-rounders available for Harmanpreet to choose from. Reddy had an injury scare against England in one of the warm-up games. However, she recovered in time and bowled in the second warm-up match against New Zealand, suggesting that she will be fit for the tournament opener.

As far as Sri Lanka is concerned as is often the case, the onus will be on captain Chamari Athapaththu to lead from the front. Kavisha Dilhari, Hasini Perera, and Harshitha Samarawickrama are the in-form batters in the Sri Lankan squad. Malki Madara can swing the new ball, which may trouble the Indian batters, while Udeshika Prabodhani brings valuable experience to the seam bowling department.

Inoka Ranaweera, Achini Kulasuriya, and Sugandika Kumari are the spinners tasked with restricting batters in the middle overs. Sri Lanka also played two warm-up games. They lost to Bangladesh by a single run in one game and the other one was washed out due to rain.

The head-to-head favours India and so, the Women in Blue will start as favourites for sure. It only remains to be seen whether the Sri Lankan team can stun the Women in Blue in Guwahati. The stage is set for a cracking tournament opener.

Head-To-Head. 

The overall Head-To-Head in Women’s ODIs sees India dominating proceedings. The two teams have played in 34 ODIs with India winning 31 off them and Sri Lanka winning the remaining 3 games. In the last 10 games, it is 8-2 in India’s favour and 2-1 in India’s favour in the last 3 games with the last meeting on 11th May 2025 where India won the final of the Women’s Tri-Series against Sri Lanka.

Pitch & Weather Report. 

The pitch at the Barsapara Stadium serves up a batting friendly surface in general with reliable bounce that allows batters to play their strokes easily. Fast bowlers can get some early help from the surface with pace on offer, but as the innings and game progresses, the track might slow down and bring the spinners into the game. Even then, it will largely stay good for batting with high scores on the cards.

The weather in Guwahati looks a little dicey with scattered thunderstorms predicted on Tuesday. Conditions will generally remain cloudy with one or two spells of rain or thundershowers are predicted. The temperature is likely to hover between minimum 25 degrees Celsius and maximum 35 degrees Celsius. Humidity will be around 68%. Wind speed will be 10 km/hr. There is a 40% chance of precipitation. Showers and even a thunderstorm are likely late Tuesday night and carry till the next day. This can impact conditions and the decision of captains at the toss.

Predicted/Possible Playing XIs of both sides. 

Here, we will predict the possible playing XIs of both sides.

India XI: Pratika Rawal, Smriti Mandhana, Harleen Deol, Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh (wk), Deepti Sharma, Sneh Rana, Shree Charani, Radha Yadav, Renuka Singh Thakur.

Sri Lanka XI: Chamari Athapaththu (c), Hasini Perera, Harshitha Samarawickrama, Vishmi Gunaratne, Piumi Wathsala, Nilakshi de Silva, Anushka Sanjeewani (wk), Dewmi Vihanga, Malika Madara, Sugandika Kumari, Inoka Ranaweera.

Key Players that we may have to watch out for in this clash. 

Smriti Mandhana: The mainstay in Indian batting and the Women in form Smriti Mandhana will be expected to headline the Indian batting. She is the key for India doing well in this tournament as India relies a lot on her to give the team a great start. The matches that she missed out, India have tended to struggle. So, the southpaw is not only the best batter from India, but also the world and all eyes from the world will be on her and her performance.

Jemimah Rodrigues: Jemimah Rodrigues is an important cog in India’s wheel in the middle order. She bats at a crucial Number 5 position. Back from injury, she will be expected to carry on the momentum laid by the players before her and then sometimes rebuild the innings if early wickets fall. She will be the glue between the top order and lower middle order or should we say finishers in the playing XI. Her role will be key throughout the competition.

Chamari Athapaththu: The mainstay of the Sri Lankan batting and living legend, Chamari Athapaththu will be a central figure for Sri Lanka with both bat and ball. With bat in hand, she will be expected to do bulk of the scoring and hope that the others play around her. But she will be the leading act. Her useful off-spin bowling will be useful and she can turn the game on its head with ball in hand as well. Sri Lanka heavily relies on Chamari to do well in these tournaments.

Vishmi Gunaratne: Vishmi Gunaratne is one of the emerging upcoming players for Sri Lanka and she also has a role to play in the middle order. She can hold the innings together and then play some breath-taking knocks. She will be key as expectations and onus will be on her to finish well as Chamari cannot do everything on her own. So, the responsibility of playing spin in the middle order will be on her to do well for the team.

Key Stats/Records to look forward to in this clash. 

• Smriti Mandhana needs 112 runs to complete 5000 ODI runs and 8 fours to complete 600 ODI fours.
• Deepti Sharma needs 4 fours to reach 250 ODI fours and 2 wickets to overtake Neetu David’s 141 wickets and become India’s second-highest wicket-taker in ODIs.
• Jemimah Rodrigues requires 43 runs to complete 1500 ODI runs.
• Richa Ghosh needs 90 runs to reach 1000 ODI runs and 3 fours to complete 100 ODI fours.
• Chamari Athapaththu needs 123 runs to complete 4000 ODI runs, 3 fours to complete 500 ODI fours and 5 wickets to complete 50 ODI wickets.
• Harshitha Samarawickrama needs 1 four to complete 100 ODI fours.
• Nilakshi de Silva is 59 runs away from 1000 ODI runs.

Possible/Predicted Outcome of the Match. 

It is the start of the World Cup 2025 in the Women’s side and both teams will be excited to start on a winning note. Anything can happen on a given day. But looking at both teams on form and on paper, one would have to see the Women in Blue India starts as overwhelming favourites for this clash. We reckon, they will start their campaign with a win. But if they are not up for it, then Sri Lanka may spring in a surprise.

Let’s see how things unfold later in the afternoon when match starts at 3 PM IST weather permitting in Guwahati as that is a little dicey at this stage. Hoping for a full game to kickstart the competition.

Also Read: ICC Women’s ODI World Cup 2025: Sri Lanka Aims To Make An Impression