A fitting end to 2025 for the India women’s cricket team as they thrashed Sri Lanka 5-0 in the home T20I series. It has been a remarkable year for Indian women’s cricket. The season began with the U-19 T20 World Cup triumph and was followed by a historic ICC ODI World Cup title.
Now, heading into 2026, the focus will firmly shift to the upcoming T20 World Cup in England. After the Sri Lanka series, India are left with only six T20Is to prepare for the mega event. While the squad looks settled, there are areas that need attention. One of the key concerns is finding more pace bowling options to strengthen the bench.
On January 9, the WPL 2026 is set to begin. But even before that, the league has taken a major step by announcing the launch of the ‘WPL Speed Queen’ campaign to identify fast bowlers from the U-19 and U-23 groups. The initiative is likely to allow franchise scouts to closely monitor young pacers. These players could serve as net bowlers for teams, and with strong performances, earn a swift transition into the WPL squads. That exposure can play a crucial role in their development, making this initiative one that deserves appreciation and could prove to be a game-changer.
Looking at the recent series, India’s primary pace options were Renuka Singh Thakur, Arundhati Reddy, and Kranti Gaud. Renuka’s fitness has been a concern over the last year. Her workload needs careful management to keep her available for the World Cup, something that was evident during the ODI World Cup as well. Arundhati, meanwhile, often misses out due to team combination preferences.
As a result, despite being early in her international career, Kranti has emerged as India’s go-to pacer. After an impressive WPL season with UP Warriorz, she has continued to move forward. By the end of 2025, she had already played both ODIs and T20Is for India, won the ODI World Cup, and played a pivotal role in that campaign. She has also developed the skill of picking up early wickets with the new ball regularly. However, as her responsibilities grow, workload management will become important. A lack of reliable backup options could then turn into a concern.
There are other pacers in the mix, including Titas Sadhu, Pooja Vastrakar, Sayali Satghare, Saima Thakor, and Kashvee Gautam. But injuries and inconsistency have prevented them from cementing their places in the senior set-up. Pooja was injured during the 2024 T20 World Cup, and her fitness status remains unclear. Kashvee has returned to the domestic circuit after injury, with a big WPL ahead of her. Titas had chances but could not produce strong performances before injuries pushed her out of contention. Saima and Sayali, meanwhile, have struggled to deliver consistent wicket-taking spells at the international level.
Another major factor has been the nature of domestic pitches. Most matches favour spinners heavily. In many games, spinners even open the bowling and dominate Player of the Match awards, leaving pacers to slip under the radar.
The domestic numbers of the 2024-25 season clearly highlight this trend:
- Senior Women’s Multi-Day Challenger Trophy: Only one pacer in the top 10 wicket-takers (Sayali Satghare at ninth; rest spinners).
- Women’s U-23 One Day Trophy: All the top five wicket-takers were spinners.
- Women’s U-19 One Day Trophy: One medium pacer in the top four wicket-takers (Yashashri Mohan Soley, second).
- Women’s U-23 T20 Trophy: The Top two wicket-takers were spinners.
- Senior Women’s One Day Challenger Trophy: All the top five wicket-takers were spinners.
- Senior Women’s One Day Trophy: One medium pacer in the top five (Kanchan Nagwani, second).
- Senior Women’s T20 Challenger Trophy: All top five wicket-takers were spinners.
- Senior Women’s T20 Trophy: One medium pacer in the top five (Mamta Paswan, fifth).
- Women’s U-19 T20 Challenger Trophy: The Top three wicket-takers were spinners.
2025-26 season
- Women’s U-19 T20 Trophy Elite: All top five wicket-takers were spinners.
- Women’s U-23 T20 Trophy Elite: Two out of the three highest wicket-takers were spinners.
These numbers clearly show how pacers have struggled to make an impact in domestic tournaments. Even during India’s U-19 T20 World Cup triumph earlier this year, the top three wicket-takers for India were all spinners, and they finished among the top four wicket-takers in the tournament.
This highlights a recurring issue in India’s women’s cricket set-up. The pipeline for identifying and grooming fast bowlers remains thin. In that context, the ‘WPL Speed Queen’ initiative could be a vital first step towards building stronger pace-bowling depth and addressing a long-standing gap.
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