Women's World Cup: Meet the Indian players

Meet the players:

Mithali Raj
Born: December 3, 1982

Mithali Raj is a right hand bat and also the captain.  She has represented India in 8 Tests and 141 ODIs. Mithali has also played 37 T20 Internationals. She made her ODI debut against England in 1999 and scored an unbeaten 114 in that match. Her highest Test score was a blistering 214 against England a decade back.  In the domestic circuit, she played for Railways and Air India. At the moment, she is India's most dependable bat. In the upcoming Women's World Cup, Mithali is expected to play a key role as she can score quick runs at the top of the order.

Ekta Bisht
Born: February 8, 1986

Ekta Bisht is a slow left-arm orthodox bowler. She is relatively new to international cricket having played just 10 ODIs. She has 17 wickets to her credit. Known to be a wicket-taker the Indians shall be looking to her for getting crucial breakthroughs. Ekta's moment came last year when she claimed a hat-trick over Sri Lanka and she would hope to display similar form in the 2013 ICC Women's World Cup.

Harmanpreet Kaur
Born: March 8, 1989.

Hamranpreet Kaur is a right hand batter in the Indian Women's cricket team. Hailing from Punjab she is known for her strokeplay. With a personal best of 84 in ODIs her average of 30.04 from 24 innings does not do justice to her potential. With the responsibility of being vice-captain on her shoulders it will be interesting to see how she delivers on the biggest stage. She wishes to follow in her cricketer-father's footsteps and idolises Virender Sehwag.

Karu Jain
Born: September 9, 1985

Karu Jain made an impression on her debut scoring 64 against West Indies in 2004. She was in the team that lost to Australia in the 2004 World Cup final. Later that year her 103 helped India beat England 4-1. Poor form left her out of the side for a while but she returned as a more than useful player at the top of the order. In the upcoming World Cup her good starts will be a key factor for India to reach big totals.

Jhulan Goswami
Born: November 25, 1983

Jhulan Goswami can easily be regarded as the Glenn McGrath of women's cricket. The tall Bengal and East Zone seamer can get the ball to move off the seam and her height helps her get uncanny bounce from any surface. The 29-year-old is a Padma Shri awardee, who captained the Indian side before the reigns were given to Mithali Raj. With 145 wickets in ODIs, she is the second-highest wicket taker in women's cricket behind Australian Cathryn Fitzpatrick. Arguably women's cricket's fastest bowler will shoulder the burden of leading Indian attack.

Thirush Kamini
Born: July 30, 1990

Thirush Kamini is an opening batswoman who bowls leg spin. The 22-year old Chennai girl played 21 ODIs for India before the 2013 World Cup. At 16, she bagged player-of-the-tournament for her 8 wickets in her debut series, the 2006 Asia Cup. Kamini saw her bowling dip from then on and is now more a fringe player in the Indian side. She bats left handed and has a round-arm leg spinning bowling action.

Mona Mesharam
Born: September 30, 1991

Mona Mesharam is a right-handed opening batswoman who bowls occasional medium pace. She has not set the stage in fire in the limited opportunities given to her. The 22-year Nagpur girl has failed to register a double-digit score in ODIs and is yet to take a wicket in 50-over cricket in the 5 games she has played so far. In the side for her promising all-round abilities, Mona is waiting to seize her moment and who knows the World Cup could bring the best out of her.

Reema Malhotra
Born: October 17, 1980

Reema Malhotra, a leg-break bowler and a decent middle order bat, is more of a limited-overs specialist. It took her nearly 10 years after making debut for her to become a fixture in the Indian lineup. Also known in dressing room as Reems, the 32-year-old was born in Delhi. She has been a consistent performer at the domestic circuit and her experience of 37 ODIs will help India in good stead. She has 379 runs and 21 wickets to her name.

Gouher Sultana
Born: March 31, 1988

Gouher Sultana is one of the most promising spinners in the Indian team for the ICC Women's World Cup. Sultana hails from Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh. She represented India in the 2009 Women's Cricket World Cup in Australia, where India finished third after beating the hosts by 3 wickets in third place play-off. Born on March 31, 1988, the left-armer has played 44 ODIs so far for India, picking up 55 wickets at 19.09 apiece.


Amita Sharma
Born: September 12, 1982

Amita Sharma is a veteran all-rounder, who has represented India in 109 One Day Internationals since her debut against New Zealand on July 24, 2002. The Delhi-born player came into prominence during 2005 World Cup in South Africa, bagging 14 wickets in the tournament to guide India to the final. She was among the three Indians that made it to the 2009 ICC World Cup XI in Australia. Amita scalped 9 wickets and contributed with 83 runs during the quadrennial event, where India finished third. The 30-year-old has one half-century and a four-wicket haul under her belt.


Shubhlakshmi Sharma
Born: December 31, 1989

Shubhlakshmi Sharma is a right-arm medium pacer and has played for India in two ODIs. Shubhlakshmi has justified her selection for the ICC Women's World Cup with her performance in the T20Is, where she averages 22.25 with the ball. In her 9 T20I appearances, the 23-year-old has bagged 8 wickets with 2/24 being the best. Shubhlakshmi was born on December 31, 1989 in Hazaribagh.

Poonam Raut
Born: October 14, 1989

She grew up idolising her current captain Mithali Raj, and Poonam Raut has every opportunity to justify the hype surrounding her and take over the mantle as India's best batswoman. Raut will open every innings for India at the Women's World Cup and the onus of scoring will rely largely on her 23-year-old shoulders. Her diminutive stature and childlike features are rather deceptive, for she possesses some mighty blows with the bat. Raut was awarded the BCCI M.A. Chidambaram Award for being India's Best Junior Lady Cricketer of the Year in 2008-09. She made her international debut soon after and has scored 574 runs in 22 matches. Over the course of the cup, Raut has the ideal platform to follow Anjum Chopra and Mithali Raj as India's pin-up women cricketers.

Sulakshana Naik
Born: November 10, 1978

The sole custodian in the Indian line-up, Sulakshana Naik is the oldest member of the squad at 34. Heading into the World Cup Sulakshana will have to bear responsibility with the gloves while doing her bit with the bat as well. Her maturity and experience will prove vital, especially if India make the latter stages of the tournament. Sulakshana, fondly known by her teammates as Gauri, made her debut versus South Africa in 2002. The Mumbai girl has seen her fair share of ups and down in Indian colours, having been dropped from the Test squad in 2006. Poor form as uncertainty behind the stumps led her to being axed from the 2005 World cup as well. Yet, she has come back stronger following an absence of almost 5 years to force her way back in the reckoning. Sulakshana has scored 571 runs in 45 ODIs but more importantly for the Indians she provides versatility. Generally batting in the lower middle-order, Sulakshana has shared the opening responsibilities with Poonam Raut on occasions as well.

Nagarajan Niranjana

Born: October 9, 1988
One of the many young faces in the Indian squad, Nagarajan Niranjana has displayed ability and nerve to share the new ball. Her right-arm medium pace has yielded 11 wickets in 8 ODIs in her fledgling career thus far. Having to play second fiddle to the experienced Jhulan Goswami, Niranjana has shown enough promise to be entrusted with the shinning leather. She played every match in the recent 5-match tour of England with decent success. When playing for the Indian Railways, Niranjana has developed into a useful lower-order batswoman as well. She has yet to carry her success with the willow into the international arena, but for a girl nicknames 'Ninja' nothing should seem beyond reach.

Rasanara Parwin
Born: May 4, 1992

A novice in international cricket, having played just two Twenty20 games, Rasanara Parwin will warm the bench during the Women's World Cup. The right-arm off-breaker impressed in the two T20s she played during the ICC Women's T20, picking up 4 wickets at a sensational economy of 4.75. Were she to get a game, Parwin could prove to be a surprise package especially on turning wickets. An added advantage with having Parwin in the squad is that she has Odisha in domestic cricket, which is one of the venues during the world cup. But, at just 20 years of age, Rasnara Parwin is most likely being groomed for the future, with the experience of an international tournament under her belt bound to prove beneficial.