India's Women's ODI World Cup Semi-Final Chances: Current Situation Explained

Overview of the Tournament

  • The Women's ODI World Cup is an exciting stage. Three teams — England, South Africa, and Australia — have already reached the semi-finals. The fight for the fourth and last semi-final continues.
  • Team India has lost three matches in a row, which makes it tough to qualify. Let us examine what India has to do to remain in contention.

India's Current Position

  • India stands at fourth place with 4 points after gaining two out of five victories. The team has to play against New Zealand (October 23) and Bangladesh (October 26) in the coming matches.
  • India must win both the matches to directly qualify to the semi-finals.
  • If India wins either one game and loses the other, qualification will be based on how the other teams perform and their net run rate. But if India loses both the games, semi-final qualification will be almost out of the question.

Other Teams Contenders

  • New Zealand: Is currently sitting on 4 points. Two of their result of matches are excellent. If New Zealand is able to win the next two matches, they will surpass India in the point table.
  • Sri Lanka: Sri Lanka too has 4 points after winning the match against Bangladesh. Winning against Pakistan in their next match can place them in the semi-final race.
  • Bangladesh and Pakistan: Both languish at the bottom of the points table and are virtually out of the semi-final contention.

India's Run Rate Advantage

India's net run rate is in the positive, something that would be helpful if there are tie-breaks and teams are tied on points. Maintaining or increasing the run rate will be of utmost importance if qualification boils down to tie-breaks.

Requirement for Strategic Realignment

Team India's recent performances are reflective of frequent mistakes and unaltered strategies. Despite good starts, the team has not managed to finish off matches strongly and close them, and frequently left the initiative in the hands of the opposition.

With the tournament at a turning point, the skipper Harmanpreet Kaur and the team will need to re-strategize. Playing with determination and willpower until the very last overs will make the team back on track and remain in the semi-final hunt.