Two favourites fine-tune ahead of the T20WC 2026 challenge

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With the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 less than two months away, previous edition's runner-ups South Africa and the reigning ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup winners India will look to build up ahead of the global mega-event in June.

The upcoming tournament will be the biggest-ever Women’s T20 World Cup which will be played for the biggest-ever record prize money pot. Both India and South Africa are a part of Group A of the tournament, and are slated to meet on 21 June in Manchester.

Both teams have come close to winning the title on separate occasions, with India having been the finalists in the 2020 edition in Australia, while South Africa were the runners-up for the 2023 and 2024 edition. With this historic background, and the quality of the personnel that each side possess, the upcoming Women’s T20 World Cup becomes an opportunity for these exceptional teams to prove their prowess.

India

A historic Women’s Cricket World Cup win helped India finally claim their maiden ICC trophy in the senior women’s game. Harmanpreet Kaur’s side will now aim to rewrite history once more by securing their first-ever T20 World Cup crown in England.

The Women in Blue have made some telling changes into their squad, with young pacer Kashvee Gautam added to boost the fast bowling resources. She will make the pace attack along with Renuka Singh, Arundhati Reddy, and Kranti Gaud. Apart from her efficient bowling, Kashvee can also hit the ball a long way, as evidenced by a career-best 43 during the ODI series against Australia in February.

Gautam remains uncapped in the T20I format, and might be fielded by India during the upcoming series.

Another addition is Anushkha Sharma, the hard-hitting all-rounder who featured for Gujarat Giants in the Women's Premier League. In seven games in India’s domestic T20 competition, Anushka hit 177 runs at a strike-rate close to 130.

Uma Chetry, who last featured for India in a Women’s Cricket World Cup fixture, is also included as a back-up for Richa Ghosh.

With positive outcomes in their recent outings against Sri Lanka (5-0 series win at home) and Australia (2-1 series win away from home), India will look to lockdown on their final 15 ahead of their bilateral series against England in May.

Squad:

Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh, Arundhati Reddy, Renuka Thakur, Kranti Gaud, Sree Charani, Shreyanka Patil, Kashvee Gautam, Bharti Fulmali, Uma Chetry, Anushka Sharma.

South Africa

The finalists of the last three senior ICC Women’s events, South Africa will look to overturn their run of near-misses and secure a maiden T20 World Cup trophy.

Injuries to Dane van Niekerk and Marizanne Kapp mean that the Proteas will be without two of their experienced performers in the upcoming series, but the duo will still eye to make the cut for the T20 World Cup, subject to fitness.

Proteas experienced a number of changes in their support staff, with a trio of new names added to the management, who will continue till the end of the Women’s T20 World Cup. These are strength and conditioning coach Tumi Masekela, batting coach Andrew Puttick and fielding coach Mduduzi Mbhatha, who will share their experience with the lineup.

Among the personnel, uncapped Tebogo Macheke joins as a back-up to Sinalo Jafta behind the stumps. Eliz-Mari Marx also returns to the side, boosting up the pace attack led by Ayabonga Khaka. On the other hand, Nonkululeko Mlaba headlines the spin attack.

Kayla Rayneke, who impressed with a strong debut in New Zealand - scoring 138 runs at a strike-rate of 168.29 - will get another opportunity to showcase her skills ahead of the squad selection for the Women’s T20 World Cup.

Anneke Bosch, who came in as a replacement for van Niekerk, also retains her place for the series against India.

This home series, bereft of a couple of seniors, gives Laura Wolvaardt’s side the perfect opportunity to test their XI and the bench strength before the marquee tournament in June.

Squad:

Laura Wolvaardt (c), Anneke Bosch, Tazmin Brits, Nadine de Klerk, Annerie Dercksen, Ayanda Hlubi, Sinalo Jafta, Ayabonga Khaka, Suné Luus, Tebogo Macheke, Eliz-Mari Marx, Nonkululeko Mlaba, Kayla Reyneke, Tumi Sekhukhune, Chloé Tryon

T20I Series Schedule

17 April, 1st T20I - Kingsmead, Durban

19 April, 2nd T20I - Kingsmead, Durban

22 April, 3rd T20I - Wanderers, Johannesburg

25 April, 4th T20I - Wanderers, Johannesburg

27 April, 5th T20I - Willowmoore Park, Benoni

Book your tickets for the ICC Women's T20 World Cup now!