Captain Harmanpreet Kaur confident of India's run at Women's ODI World Cup

Indian veteran Harmanpreet Kaur is relying on the team’s recent form, collective confidence, and revamped preparation methods to break the barrier and secure India’s maiden title as the Women's ODI World Cup 2025 is right around the corner.

The 2025 tournament, featuring eight teams, will begin on September 30, with co-hosts India and Sri Lanka facing each other in the opening encounter. India fell short of the semi-finals in the previous edition in 2022, and their best performances in the tournament’s history have been runner-up finishes in 2005 and 2017, both under the leadership of Mithali Raj.

"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 which all Indian fans and we are waiting for," Harmanpreet said at an ICC event in Mumbai as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.

Not surprised with our results, we prepared well: Harmanpreet

India have enjoyed an impressive run in 2025, winning nine of their 11 matches so far. Their victories include a 3-0 sweep over Ireland, a tri-series triumph in Sri Lanka featuring South Africa, and most recently, a 2-1 series win in England. Harmanpreet admitted that the team’s confidence is soaring, further boosted by a 3-2 T20I series win against England on their home turf. The Indian skipper believes this will help them perform better.

"[We are] very high [on confidence] - because 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 are 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 said.

"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, how we can improve ourselves. So, for us, it was not like we have done something great. [The result] was because of our routines and we want to keep doing the same things, again and again," she added.

Before the World Cup, India will face another crucial challenge, a three-match ODI series at home against defending champions and world No. 1 Australia, set to conclude just ten days before the tournament begins. The Moga-born feels that there cannot be a better way to prepare for an important World Cup at home, with a series against one of the top-ranked sides in the world.

"Well, whenever we play against Australia, that is always challenging because they are very competitive and you always have to know where you are standing, and what are the areas you need to improve [on] as a team. I think right before the World Cup, that series is going to give us a lot of clarity, and hopefully along with that, we will play our best cricket, and I think the same momentum will continue before the World Cup. Australia had however failed to make the final of the T20 World Cup last year, which New Zealand won. To see two teams apart from Australia in the final was a welcome change,” she concluded.