The 2025 Women’s ODI World Cup: A Milestone for the Game 🇮🇳🏆

The 2025 Women’s World Cup in India was more than a tournament — it was a celebration of nearly a century of progress in women’s cricket. From grassroots beginnings to packed stadiums and thriving professional leagues, the women’s game has become a global spectacle built on skill, innovation, and resilience.

Congratulations to India on a historic home victory, to Australia — arguably the most complete team of the competition — for setting the benchmark, England, who displayed immense talent but struggled with consistency, South Africa, whose captain Laura Wolvaardt led brilliantly, often carrying her team single-handedly, and New Zealand, who remain a strong team with some domestic red-ball infrastructure — though the absence of recent women’s Tests highlights the need for further long-format development. Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka demonstrated glimpses of talent, but limited exposure to multi-day cricket underlined the importance of technique, patience, and adaptability in high-pressure matches.

Their performances reinforced a timeless truth:

Every great white-ball innings begins with a red-ball foundation.

Discipline, technique, and smart management of the powerplay and middle overs win matches. Investing in women’s red-ball cricket is no longer optional — it is essential for raising ODI standards globally.

Looking Ahead: Red-Ball Foundations Matter

To compete consistently with the Big Three — India, Australia, and England — both men and women need strong red-ball foundations. Multi-day, first-class cricket builds technical skill, tactical awareness, adaptability, and mental resilience — qualities T20s and ODIs alone cannot provide. For emerging nations, developing domestic red-ball systems is the key to leveling the playing field and producing teams capable of sustained international success.

Performers Shaping the Future

The 2025 Women’s World Cup highlighted more than raw talent — it revealed how strong red-ball foundations translate into match-winning performances in limited-overs cricket. Players with solid technique and tactical awareness shone brightest under pressure.

Deepti Sharma’s all-round brilliance in the final, combining disciplined batting with clever, attacking bowling, exemplified the benefits of multi-format experience.

Smriti Mandhana and Harmanpreet Kaur anchored innings with patience and timing, while Alyssa Healy and Ashleigh Gardner demonstrated how powerplay aggression can be built on careful shot selection honed in longer formats.

The tournament’s most compelling story was Shafali Verma. Once a teen prodigy, she faced setbacks but returned stronger, showcasing how a technically grounded batter can thrive on the big stage. In the final, her 87 off 78 balls, including 12 fours and 2 sixes, laid the foundation for India’s total. In a bold captaincy move, she was trusted with the ball and took two crucial wickets, swinging the momentum. Shafali’s performance perfectly illustrated the value of talent, preparation, and trust, and highlighted how red-ball skills underpin adaptability in high-pressure moments.

This World Cup underscored a vital lesson: limited-overs success is powered by strong red-ball foundations. Players who combine natural talent with technique, patience, and tactical acumen are the ones who change games, inspire teams, and shape the future of women’s cricket.

Skill Development for the Next Generation

Tools like Roundabout™ give young players a safe, risk-free way to practice the fundamentals — batting, bowling, and hand-eye coordination — building the foundation for the next generation of international stars.

The rise of women’s cricket is transforming the sport, one performance at a time.