India Women will be playing five T20Is against England in an ODI World Cup year, but the series is not without context. With the next T20 World Cup under a year away and set to be played in England, India not only get a chance to acclimatise to the venues but also identify players who are best suited to these conditions. Here's a look at how the team is shaping up and the areas they'll be looking to improve.
T20Is back in focus for India
This series will be India's first T20I assignment of the year. Their last series was against West Indies at home in December, which they won, but 2024 was all about heartbreaks: a loss in the Asia Cup final followed by a group-stage exit in the T20 World Cup. Most of the players were, however, in action at the Women's Premier League (WPL) in February.
They do have several T20Is lined up after this series before the T20 World Cup next year - they will be playing three home T20Is against Bangladesh, three in Australia in February 2026 followed by a tri-series in New Zealand which will also feature England in May - but this will be their chance to try out new faces. India will also be playing across five venues, all of which will be hosting T20 World Cup matches next year.
New (and old) faces in the T20I squad
The returning Shafali Verma is likely to slot straight in as opener, given her superb form in the last few months in domestic cricket and the WPL. In her absence during the West Indies T20Is, Uma Chetry opened with Smriti Mandhana but failed to make an impact.
A few new faces have been added to the bowling department. Left-arm spinner N Shree Charani and seam-bowling allrounders Kranti Goud and Sayali Satghare have received their maiden T20I call-ups, while batting allrounder Amanjot Kaur has been recalled into the T20I squad.
Sneh Rana has returned to the T20I squad for the first time since February 2023 on the back of her impressive performances with the ball - and on one occasion with the bat - in WPL 2025. She also picked up two wickets in the three overs she bowled in the tour game against ECB XI in Beckenham.
There's a bit of inexperience in the fast-bowling unit with the likes of Renuka Singh and Pooja Vastrakar out of this series. They had not played India's last assignment - the ODI tri-series with Sri Lanka and South Africa in April and May - due to injuries. India might field a completely new bowling line-up from the West Indies T20Is in December, barring Radha Yadav. With Renuka and Vastrakar expected to be back at some point, India will be looking to build their fast-bowling reserves in this series.
The gaps India will look to fill
India have persisted with Harmanpreet Kaur as captain in the format despite the criticism she faced after the T20 World Cup exit. Between then and now, she's proved her capabilities as a T20 leader by taking Mumbai Indians to their second WPL trophy this season. She is also one of India's best batters in the format, having been their go-to during pressure situations, as she showed during India's T20 World Cup group-stage game against Australia where she top-scored as the rest of the line-up collapsed around her. Last year, she had spoken about the need for India to develop the "mindset" to deal with nerves. With two global tournaments to be played in the next year, captain Harmanpreet's focus will be on assembling a squad specifically with players who can handle pressure situations better.
The batting department looks solid with Mandhana, Shafali, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet and Richa Ghosh making the top five. However, India have been hurt by a lack of contribution from the lower middle order, which also troubled them during the T20 World Cup last year. Their batters from No. 6 and further down strike at just 104.05 and have just hit just four sixes in total in 42 matches since 2023.
Spin-bowling allrounder Deepti Sharma, who's played in the middle order, has a strike rate of just 99.10 since 2023. India will also want to nail down the rest of the line-up, which has seen several changes in the last few years. Amanjot, who showed off her skills as a finisher in the WPL, will be one of India's options to fill that gap in the middle order, though she played at No. 3 in the tour game in Beckenham, with Rodrigues dropping to five.
India have also not been able to nail down their go-to spin option in the format. Deepti aside, they have tried as many as ten spinners since 2023. While Rajeshwari Gayakwad has been out of favour recently, the likes of Saika Ishaque, Shreyanka Patil and S Asha - who were part of the last few series - have not found a place in this squad. One of the three spinners in the squad - Radha, Rana and youngster Charani will want to make the most of their chance to make sure India's search for a reliable spinner ends.
Where India have improved
India will also want to define the brand of T20 cricket they want to play, with their batting approach having come under scrutiny over the last few years. While Ghosh has the highest strike rate of 148.80 among all players since 2023 (minimum 200 balls faced), India's next best is Mandhana's strike rate of 122.66, which exposes this gap. Ghosh also has the best balls per six ratio of 18.75 since 2023, while Mandhana, who's hit the most sixes for India in this period, has hit one every 40 balls.
India's overall scoring rate, however, has seen an improvement: they were at their best-ever in 2024, scoring at 7.99 per over compared to 6.93 in 2023. They also posted their highest-ever T20I total of 217 (in the third T20I against West Indies) in 2024. But their run rate at the death since 2023 is 8.86 compared to Australia's 10.16, the best on this list.