Women’s T20 World Cup 2026: ‘They should win every game with a big margin’ – Aakash Chopra backs India Women all-round strength

Former Aakash Chopra hailed the all-round strength of the India women’s national cricket team named for the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026, set to be held in England from June 12. India will be led by Harmanpreet Kaur in the marquee event and will play their first game on June 14 against Pakistan Women.

Chopra conceded that spinners are dominating in recent games, but emphasised that pacers need to take wickets. He added that the Women in Blue must find answers to this and contribute their best in the World Cup.

“You will find a lot of all-rounders there. This is the speciality of this team, almost every player brings more than one skill set. We saw Shafali bowling, taking wickets and contributing to the World Cup win. The only question was who would bat at No. 7, and Bharti Fulmali can smash the ball. Radha’s best came when she batted a little higher up the order for RCB,” said Chopra on Follow the Blues show.

“It was a pleasant surprise to see her scoring runs at No. 4 or 5 and contributing with the ball. When you look at the bigger picture, I was going through the numbers from the South Africa series. The spinners ruled the roost, whether it was Deepti, Shree Charani or Shreyanka Patil. But there weren’t many wickets for the faster bowlers. So, there is a question mark on their contribution, and they will have to find answers to that,” he added.

Chopra mentioned that rain could play a big role in the T20 World Cup and conceded that India Women will be under significant pressure while facing Pakistan, whereas the arch-rivals have nothing to lose. He added that India should aim to win games by big margins, especially with England hosting the tournament, bringing a different dynamic.

“It’s England, so just assume that rain will play a role in the tournament. When that happens, you really don’t want to take your foot off the accelerator at any point. The weight of expectations is on India and not Pakistan, if we talk about that contest, because Pakistan have nothing to lose and everything to gain. They have the liberty, whereas India are always under pressure, thinking they cannot afford to lose, especially because they are the stronger side,” said Chopra.

“Since India are aiming to win the trophy, there is added pressure on them. Every game you can win, you should win with a margin, because England, as a host nation, brings a different dynamic to the contest. You have to factor in things like DLS, net run-rate, and even the possibility of a three-way tie in a six-team group,” said Chopra.