Nasser Hussain emphasized the need for India’s captain, Harmanpreet Kaur, to shine in crucial matches, similar to Alyssa Healy’s standout performances in the ongoing Women’s World Cup 2025. Harmanpreet has faced challenges with her batting form in the tournament, coinciding with India’s struggles in the middle-order. Across four matches, the 36-year-old has only managed to score 71 runs, with her highest score being 22.
In contrast, Alyssa Healy leads the run-scoring charts, accumulating a total of 294 runs from four matches, including two centuries in her recent games. Speaking before the India-England match at the JioHotstar Press Room, Hussain highlighted Harmanpreet’s impressive World Cup track record and expressed his expectations for her to elevate her performances in the upcoming games for India.
Hussain also noted that India’s success is not solely dependent on the opening pair of Pratika Rawal and Smriti Mandhana, who have scored 180 and 134 runs respectively. He praised Harleen Deol for her consistent performance with the bat, cautioning against comparing strike rates between openers and middle-order batsmen. According to Hussain, India does not overly rely on their opening batsmen.
The upcoming clash between India and England is set for Sunday, October 19.