Why Indian Women's team can win ICC T20 World Cup 2023

In the past few years, Indian women's cricket has been about some miraculous moments and some heartbreaks.

One of the things which have been consistent among all these is a ray of hope—the hope of winning the first-ever ICC title at the senior level.

With the Indian women's team kicking off their campaign T20 World Cup against Pakistan later in the evening, 2023 looks like the year when India might lift that elusive ICC trophy.

Here is why:

2007 T20 World Cup Win and IPL

The Indian men's team shocked everyone when they won the 2007 T20 WC defeating Pakistan in the final. This win came months before the announcement of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Along similar lines, the Indian team is going to the World Cup with the announcement of the Women's Premier League (WPL).

The introduction of IPL changed how T20 was played across the world and brought in a revolution in men's cricket. With BCCI announcing five teams for WPL, the stars seem to align for Indian women's cricket.

U19 T20 WC Win

The junior Indian women's team scripted history when they lifted the inaugural U-19 T20 World Cup. This is the first-ever ICC trophy for the Indian women's team across age groups.

Two members of the WC-winning team, Richa Ghosh and Captain Shafali Verma are coming fresh from the glory. Both the players are seasoned campaigners now and their experience in the U-19 World Cup will help them at the senior level.

Other seniors in the team have a win to draw inspiration from and cross the final line for once now.

The mix of youth and experience in team

The current Indian team is a good mix of youth and experience. With the likes of Shikha Pandey, Harmanpreet Kaur, and Smriti Mandhana in the squad, the Indian team has enough experience in the kitty.

The younger ones like Shafali Verma, Richa Ghosh, Renuka Singh, and Yastika Bhatia are playing some fresh cricket and with them rubbing shoulders with the best teams around will help them at such a big stage.

Indian women's team is the only team to defeat Australia last year and sweep an away ODI series against England. This team has broken quite some barriers which the teams of the past failed to do.

Fearlessness and Unity

All-rounder Deepti Sharma sent an uproar across the cricketing circles when she ran out the non-striker to win a game against England in the Home of Cricket (Lord's).

The incident attracted everything negative from the veterans and purists of the game who believe it is non-sporting despite it being legal.

When asked about the incident, Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur said, "Well, to be honest, I thought you will be asking about the first 9 wickets, as they were not easy to take. It's part of the game, I don't think we have done something new. I will back my players, she hasn't done something outside the rules."

This above statement was a clear message stating that this team is here to take on everyone and they are not afraid of making a move when needed.