🏏India Women vs Sri Lanka Women, 2nd T20I SLW tour of India 2025🏏

India dominant with bat and ball but fielding needs improvement. India dropped five catches in the series opener, including three straightforward ones

Big picture - India remain favourites

India will look to tighten their grip on the five-match T20I series when they take on Sri Lanka in the second game in Visakhapatnam, having cruised to a comprehensive win in the opener. Dominant with ball and bat but sloppy in the field on Sunday, the hosts once again underlined the gap between the two sides - they have now won eight of their last ten T20Is against Sri Lanka - though they dropped five catches on Sunday.

Sri Lanka, however, will take heart from the fact that in their two wins during that period, captain Chamari Athapaththu played decisive knocks of 61 and 80. Once again, much will depend on her, but the visitors will need more support from their top and middle order. Vishmi Gunaratne, Harshitha Samarawickrama and Hasini Perera all showed brief intent in the first T20I, but struck at under a run a ball. For Sri Lanka to challenge India, at least one of those batters must bat deep and set the platform.

Athapaththu said after the loss that 121 was well below par, and conceded that Sri Lanka played overly defensive cricket. Asked to bat first on a relatively cooler evening before the dew set in, they struggled to generate momentum, with India's bowlers maintaining control through the middle overs and snuffing out any late surge.

India, in contrast, were clinical in the chase, with Jemimah Rodrigues' fluent half-century wrapping up the chase in just 14.4 overs. With conditions set to remain similar before the series moves to Thiruvananthapuram, India will start as favourites again while Sri Lanka search for urgency and execution.

In the spotlight - Vaishnavi Sharma and Chamari Athapaththu

Vaishnavi Sharma made her international debut in the opening T20I, in place of fellow left-arm spinner Radha Yadav, who was left out of the squad. One of the three spinners India fielded on Sunday, Vaishnavi was thrown the ball after the powerplay, and almost struck with her third delivery. She should have had a wicket in her next over as well, only for a fumble from N Shree Charani to deny her. While Vaishnavi finished wicketless, her control stood out as she conceded just 16 runs from four overs, and helped India maintain the squeeze through the middle overs. At just 20, India will be keen to track her progress closely as they build towards the T20 World Cup in June next year.

Since 2024, Chamari Athapathu has scored 822 runs in 24 innings, which includes two hundreds and five half-centuries. Her strike rate of 125.11 in this period is the highest among all Sri Lanka batters, underlining both her consistency and her role as the side's primary aggressor in the top order. Against India, a substantial knock from their captain can not only lift Sri Lanka's batting effort but also give them a realistic chance of levelling the series.

Team news

India are unlikely to change their winning combination. That could mean continuing with three seamers and as many spinners in the XI.

India (probable): 1 Shafali Verma, 2 Smriti Mandhana, 3 Jemimah Rodrigues, 4 Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), 5 Richa Ghosh (wk), 6 Deepti Sharma, 7 Amanjot Kaur, 8 Arundhati Reddy, 9 Kranti Gaud, 10 Vaishnavi Sharma, 11 N Shree Charani

Unlike India, Sri Lanka opted for two seamers and four spin options on Sunday. Though ambidextrous left-arm wristspinner Shashini Gimhani went for 32 runs in her two overs, the visitors might not change their XI just yet.

Sri Lanka (probable): 1 Chamari Athapaththu (capt), 2 Vishmi Gunaratne, 3 Hasini Perera, 4 Harshitha Samarawickrama, 5 Kavisha Dilhari, 6 Nilakshika Silva, 7 Kaushini Nuythyangana (wk), 8 Inoka Ranaweera, 9 Malki Madara, 10 Kawya Kavindi, 11 Shashini Gimhani

Deepti Sharma is just two short of 150 T20I wickets•BCCI

Pitch and conditions

The second T20I is expected to be played under similar conditions as the first, with a cooler evening forecast once again. While the surface was initially expected to be flat and high-scoring, it played slightly two-paced in the first game, with the ball gripping at times, as Rodrigues noted after the match. The square offered value for shots. Dew is likely to play a role again in the evening, making chasing preferable.

Stats and trivia

• India have lost only five out of 26 completed T20Is against Sri Lanka.

• Deepti Sharma, India's highest wicket-taker in T20Is, is two away from 150 wickets in the format. Only Megan Schutt is ahead of Deepti among all bowlers.

• Sri Lanka's last T20I win against India in India had come back in 2014. Since then, they've lost all four matches they've played there.

Thanks for the tag Soni.

India is good with bat and ball. Fielding is very poor. They need to improve on that if they want to be consistent.

Cheers..

Thank you Soni for the tag ☺️

Thank you, Soni, for the thread and for tagging me.

Best wishes to Team India women.

India firm favourites but room for improvement

India’s all-round control in the first T20I set the tone for the series. Their bowlers squeezed Sri Lanka through the middle overs before Jemimah Rodrigues’ fluent half-century sealed the chase inside 15 overs. With eight wins in their last ten T20Is against Sri Lanka, India’s dominance is clear- though sharper fielding will be an area to watch as the match unfolds.

Friends, here is a very interesting story about Harmanpreet!

When a 21-year-old Harmanpreet Kaur made her debut against Pakistan in a World Cup match in 2009, women’s cricket in India was still treated like an afterthought. Matches weren’t televised. Grounds were half-empty. Facilities were basic at best.

Harman was a young girl from Moga, Punjab; playing for a team that barely had resources to train properly. Yet, what she carried within her was rare: belief. The kind of belief that grows only in silence, away from applause.

Four years later, when India hosted the 2013 World Cup, things hadn’t improved much. Harman still had to make peace with the fact that the men’s game drew headlines while the women’s team quietly boarded economy flights. India crashed out early that year, but Harman stood tall, finishing as the team’s top run-getter. That tournament might’ve been a disappointment for the team, but for her, it was a statement: she wasn’t going anywhere.

2017 was the year everything changed.

India’s women were in the World Cup semi-final against Australia; the most dominant team in the sport. Early wickets fell. Pressure mounted. And then walked in Harmanpreet Kaur, visibly struggling with cramps and injuries, but batting like a storm in human form.

What followed was one of the greatest innings ever played by an Indian in a World Cup – men’s or women’s. 171 not out off 115 balls. Power. Timing. Madness. Art.

She later said, half-smiling, “Sir, I was cramping so much, I had to hit sixes because I couldn’t run.” What she didn’t say was that this knock changed everything – sponsorships, coverage, salaries, respect. It made people stop scrolling, stop switching channels, and actually watch women’s cricket.

she played on a half-empty stomach because the team hotel had messed up breakfast. The players had samosas before the biggest game of their lives. And yet, she scored the kind of innings that fed the dreams of millions.

Vinod Rai, then head of BCCI’s Committee of Administrators, later admitted his regret; that women’s cricket was ignored for too long. He revealed how, before that period, even the players’ jerseys were made by cutting up men’s uniforms and stitching them smaller. It was that bad.

After 171*, that neglect became impossible to justify.