India come into the Women’s T20 World Cup as one of the favorites after their ODI World Cup triumph last year, according to batsman Jemimah Rodrigues, who believes the experience of winning the title has given the team confidence ahead of the tournament in England.The Women’s T20 World Cup begins on June 12, and India will open their campaign against Pakistan in Birmingham on Sunday. New Zealand are the defending champions, while South Africa finished runners-up in the 2024 edition. India is in Group A along with Australia, South Africa, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Netherlands. The top two teams in the group will advance to the semifinals.Jemimah, who played a key role in India’s first ODI World Cup title at home in 2025, said the experience of winning a global tournament has strengthened confidence within the team.“Everyone was a part of this (the ODI World Cup win); they know what pressure feels like and at the same time everyone knows that we have crossed the line once and we can do it again. That belief is contagious,” Jemimah said on JioStar.“But when you win one, you don’t want to stop there. You want to make it two, three, as many as you can. Our fans make us feel at home wherever we go. So yeah, we’re the favorites, there’s no doubt about that.”The 25-year-old said having several members of the World Cup-winning team in the current squad would help younger players.“A lot of times we visualize success a lot, but now we’ve really lived it. That helps us believe even more that we can do it again. It’s great to have so many members of the 2025 World Cup team on this team, along with some more young people coming in. I think the energy will rub off on them. They’re all going to share their experiences,” he said.Head coach Amol Muzumdar said the team wants to build a winning culture and carry that momentum into the T20 World Cup.“In every tournament there is pressure and the players are used to it. They have been playing international cricket for a long time. For the first time we will be ODI World Cup champions.“Winning is a habit. For the last three years, we have tried to win every series and treat them as extremely important, regardless of who we play.”“Once you get into the habit of winning series, it becomes second nature. The team has been working very hard on this for the last month. I have never seen a team, regardless of gender, work so hard and be so dedicated to a goal.”
