Under pressure after two consecutive defeats, India made a strategic adjustment for their ICC Women’s World Cup 2025 fixture against England on Sunday in Indore, opting to strengthen their bowling by including pacer Renuka Singh Thakur in the playing XI. The decision came at the expense of middle-order batter Jemimah Rodrigues, who was dropped after a series of underwhelming performances.
India’s back-to-back losses against South Africa and Australia, where they failed to defend 252 and 330, respectively, exposed flaws in their bowling depth. With their semifinal hopes hanging in the balance, the team management chose to tweak the combination for the must-win encounter against a high-performing England side.
Former England captain Nasser Hussain backed the decision, saying it reflected India’s intent to address their bowling challenges, especially considering Renuka's past success against England.
“I mean they lost two close games and they have played a lot of cricket in those close games and they had a week off to reflect on it. And they obviously thought ‘well, we are playing well but we got 330 against Australia and we still lose. We need the extra bowling option’. They got 5 and Harmanpreet who doesn’t bowl a lot. So they have gone with Renuka Singh Thakur,” Hussain said on Sky Sports.
Hussain talks about Renuka’s impact
Renuka’s inclusion adds swing and pace to India’s attack, a factor Hussain believed could prove vital against England’s top order and it reality, she was highly impactful as well.
I think they also know that England are vulnerable with the ball swinging in and so Renuka Singh Thakur does that. She’s got a very good record against England as well so I think that’s a good change. But obviously you lose with one and gain with the other and vice versa. They are now a batter short with Jemimah Rodrigues left out,” he added.
Meanwhile, England posted 288 runs in the first innings. Chasing the mighty total, India lost the wickets of Pratika Rawal and Harleen Deol. However, Smriti Mandhana and Harmanpreet Kaur managed to keep the scoreboard ticking, scoring a half-century each as India chase their biggest win in ODIs.