Amol Muzumdar: India Women can dominate white-ball cricket in 2 years

Amol Muzumdar, head coach of India Women, said on Saturday that the side should be able to dominate white-ball formats consistently within two years, pointing to the talent coming through age-group cricket.

He spoke at an event organised by the Sports Journalists Association of Mumbai, and said he expects India to become the team to beat in T20 cricket, because players from the age-group system are more used to the demands of the shortest format.

The T20I gap

India won the 50-over World Cup at home last November but have yet to win a major T20I tournament. Muzumdar and captain Smriti Mandhana now have a chance to address that at the inaugural six-team ICC T20I Champions Trophy, which will be played in Mumbai and Vadodara.

The ICC Women’s Champions Trophy 2027 runs from 14 to 28 February in those two Indian cities, according to the BCCI.

Recent form

India Women have just completed a home series against Zimbabwe Women, winning both T20Is and all three ODIs. The last of them, on 28 October, was an 8-wicket win in which India Women reached 133/2 in 17 overs after Zimbabwe Women were bowled out for 131. In the second ODI, on 25 October, India Women made 328/6 and won by 121 runs.

What’s next

India Women’s next assignment is the first Test against South Africa Women on Wednesday, 9 December, at 1:30 PM IST. The first ODI against South Africa Women follows on Wednesday, 16 December, and the second ODI on Saturday, 19 December.