(Cricket news) India will kick off their 2022 World Cup campaign in a high voltage game against Pakistan. In the last ODI World Cup, India fell agonisingly short of winning the final as they had to settle for 2nd place. That was the moment that Women's cricket in this country was lifted to another level where the players now have much more exposure and recognition.

This time India will have something they didn't have before that is expectations. Every Indian fan will expect the team to win the trophy but from a realistic point of view India is not one of the favourites to win the World Cup. Australia, New Zealand and England stand way ahead of India before the tournament. India do have a chance to win the trophy but they will have to play a lot better than they have in the past two years.

Before the Covid pandemic the side had a very good run and it looked like the team was going in the perfect direction. After the pandemic, India were 2nd best in 4 back to back bilateral series against South Africa, England, Australia and New Zealand. The team is in a rebuilding phase where a lot of young players have come in with little or no big tournament experience. Having played competitive series against 3 of the best teams in the tournament is an added advantage for the side.

The positive thing is that in every press conference all the players are not talking about the experience of the World Cup. The talk is rather focused on winning the trophy with all the players hoping that they can lift the World Cup this time. India won both their warm up games which is an incredible start. No single player is going to win the match from the women in blue and it will have to be a team performance. The World Cup is almost guaranteed to be the last one for Mithali Raj and Jhulan Goswami which will surely give the team extra motivation.

Also read: India's ideal Playing XI for the 2022 Women's World Cup