Women’s T20 World Cup 2026: 5 reasons India can win the title

India comes into the 2026 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in England and Wales as one of the favourites of the tournament, as they kick off their campaign against Pakistan at Edgbaston on June 14. 

The Women in Blue come in as the winners of the last ICC tournament, the Women’s ODI World Cup in 2025. Finally breaking their trophy drought, fans and well-wishers will be hoping that this is the start of a new era of dominance for Team India.

With teams like Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and England being in transition with multiple older names having either called time on their career or playing their swansongs, India comes into this tournament as one of the most dominant sides, favourites to lift the crown.

Here are five reasons India can win the Women’s T20 World Cup 2026:

5) Familiarity with the conditions

In a sport so heavily dependent on external environmental factors, it is always a significant plus when a team is familiar with the nature and conditions of a region before a particular tournament. India come into this tournament having already acclimatised themselves to the conditions in England. 

They come off having played a three-match T20I series against World Cup hosts England. Despite losing the series 2-1, multiple players, such as the returning Yastika Bhatia, skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, Jemimah Rodrigues and N Shree Charani, put in stellar performances, aiding the team in their preparations. They will know what to expect come crunch time due to their early experience in the conditions.

4) Batting firepower and depth

One of the most stellar and exhilarating aspects of the Indian Women’s team is their strong batting unit. From top to bottom, they have run-scorers, stroke makers, power hitters and genuine depth in their options. In Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma, they have a dynamic opening pair capable of scoring fast and big. Yastika Bhatia’s return adds much-needed impetus to the middle-order, alongside the reliable Jemimah Rodrigues.

Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur has been India’s woman for the big occasions, with stellar performances in multiple crunch ICC games. Wicketkeeper Richa Ghosh is one of the most dominant finishers in the game, and showed her prowess with a 38-ball 68 in the warm-up game against England, almost taking them home with 40 needed off the last 15 balls. Bharti Fulmali adds another reliable lower-order option, and in Deepti Sharma and Radha Yadav, India has genuine all-rounders who can contribute with the bat.

3) Winners of the last ICC trophy

A common phenomenon across sports is dominant teams that wait long periods of trophy droughts, seeing unprecedented success from the moment they break their duck. Lionel Messi’s Argentina needed to win a Copa America in 2021 before they eventually clinched the elusive FIFA World Cup in 2022. The Indian Men’s Cricket Team’s T20 World Cup victory in 2024 saw the culmination of an 11-year wait for an ICC title, which was followed by the Champions Trophy in 2025 and the successful defence of the T20 World Cup in 2026.

This Indian Women’s team, under captain Harmanpreet Kaur, has undoubtedly been one of the most talented teams in cricket history, and after years of toil, finally clinched their first major title in 2025, winning the home ODI World Cup. For a team as dominant as this Indian side, this could be the moment to open the floodgates to what could be an era of uber-dominance.

2) Depth and quality in spin bowling options

Conditions in England tend to start drying up by June and July. Combined with the effects of a heat wave across the country, this could cause significant dryness to the surfaces, allowing spin bowlers to come into play. One of the major factors from which this can be drawn as a conclusion is the host-nation England’s inclusion of four spinners in their squad.

One of India’s biggest strong points is the strength they boast in their spin department. Led by the experienced Deepti Sharma, they will be looking to choke teams out with spin in the middle overs. Deepti was the highest wicket-taker in India’s 2025 World Cup triumph and will shoulder the responsibility as the attack leader. She will be backed up by the reliable Radha Yadav and the highly skilled Shreyanka Patil, who has established herself as a fearsome T20 bowler. India also has in their ranks left-arm spinner Shree Charani, who put in brilliant performances in the England series.

1) Smriti Mandhana’s form in England

Southpaw Smriti Mandhana has already established herself as one of the greats of the game. Opening the batting for India, she has been one of the most bankable batters, expected to score big runs in vital matches. She has scored 4,333 runs in 160 innings in the T20I format and is just behind New Zealand’s legendary Suzie Bates in the all-time run-scorers list in the format.

A massive factor which bodes well for the Indian team and their chances is their mercurial batter’s form in England. Mandhana has scored 650 runs in 19 innings in England, averaging 38 and striking at an impressive 139.48. She also notched up her maiden T20I century at Trent Bridge in 2025, scoring a brilliant 112 as England were decimated by 97 runs.