“We’ll give our 100%”- India captain Harmanpreet Kaur eager to break World Cup barrier

India captain Harmanpreet Kaur stated that the team is ready to break the barrier of not winning a World Cup title. This came during the trophy unveiling ceremony in Mumbai as ICC chief Jay Shah began the countdown to the ICC Women’s World Cup 2025 to be played in India in September-October.

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Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, and Jemimah Rodrigues were present along with BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia and India’s two-time World Cup winner Yuvraj Singh. The 2025 tournament, which features eight teams, will kick off on September 30, with India taking on Sri Lanka in the opening game.

In 2022, India did not get to the semifinals in the most recent ODI World Cup. Two times, in 2005 and 2017, both under Mithali Raj, they finished as runners-up, which is their best finish at an ODI World Cup to date.

“We will give our 100% and try to break that barrier.”- Harmanpreet Kaur

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With series victories against Ireland, a tri-series victory over South Africa and Sri Lanka, and most recently, a 2-1 victory over England on the road, the team is coming in with a lot of confidence.

"Playing in front of a home crowd, that is always special, and hopefully, this time we will give our 100% and try to break that barrier that all Indian fans and we are waiting for," skipper Harmanpreet Kaur said at an ICC event in Mumbai.

What are India's confidence levels like right now heading into the World Cup?

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“To be honest, confidence is very high because of the amount of cricket we have played in the last couple of years; that has really given us a lot of confidence. And touchwood, the way we have been playing for the last couple of years, we just want to continue with that. I think it is all about mindset and the fearless cricket we have been playing," Harmanpreet added.

India's first-ever T20I series victory on English soil, a 3-2 victory, came after their ODI series victory against England.

"We were not surprised with the results [in England] because we knew the kind of preparation we had done. We knew that we could do this easily. I think we have been working very hard for it, but I think at the same time, we kept things very simple, and we knew that we could easily win any series or any tournament. We were only talking about how we can win and how we can improve ourselves. So, for us, it was not like we had done something great. It was because of our routines, and we want to keep doing the same things again and again,” she added.

The eight-team tournament will begin on September 30.

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