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PlayersAmol Muzumdar urges India women to dominate, sees T20 specialists rising
The chief coach spoke ahead of the first anniversary of India’s ICC trophy breakthrough in the ODI World Cup last year.
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Mumbai: It is almost one year since the Indian team won a historic first ICC Women’s ODI World Cup title. With two days left to mark the first anniversary of that triumph —Nov 3, 2025 — head coach Amol Muzumdar said he’s seen replays of those triumphant matches “over a thousand times.”
The Indian women’s cricket team has been on an upswing in terms of performances in the last 10 years. The pinnacle came last year when they beat South Africa in the final at the DY Patil Stadium, Navi Mumbai to win their first ever World Cup.
Muzumdar, however, added that the team is not resting on its laurels and that it will not be long before the team starts producing specialists in the T20 format, similar to the Indian men’s team.
The Indian men’s team earlier this year won a second consecutive T20 World Cup with a team that consisted mostly of players specialising in the shortest format, including the captain at the time.
“We're already on that path and there's some amazing talent coming through,” Muzumdar said, at an event organised by the Sports Journalists Association of Mumbai on Saturday.
“The talent that I've seen at Centre of Excellence (in Bengaluru), where they happen to have the U-15, U-19 and India A camps, are a good reflection of where Indian women's cricket is at the moment. I'm sure it's in a healthy state and there are some terrific players coming through. You’ll be surprised how soon they catch up.”
Muzumdar, who took over as head coach in 2023, said the rising players are attuned to the demands of professional sport.
“Simple things (my generation) took a long time to adjust to, they are tuned in. They are professionals, even the U-15 players. They understand the nutrition part of the game, the fitness part, the fielding – they are terrific fielders,” he said.
The team at the moment is undergoing transition after long-time captain Harmanpreet Kaur was replaced by star batter Smriti Mandhana. Muzumdar has maintained that the goal of the team has always remained the same – dominating the sport.
“Dominance is something that we have always spoke about within the squad. Being ruthless on the ground is another thing that we have always maintained,” he said.
“From the background where I come from, playing first class cricket (for an all-conquering Mumbai Ranji Trophy team for most of his career), it was similar. I try to inculcate those things and give back. If we start dominating world cricket two years down the line, I would be happy.”
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Muzumdar played 171 First-Class matches across stints with Mumbai, Andhra and Assam, scoring 11,167 runs.
“Unity in the camp”
Since he took over, the team has twice failed to cross the group stage of the T20 World Cup, in 2024 and 2026. But they won the ODI World Cup at home last year.
The most heartwarming thing for Muzumdar from the title-winning campaign came off the pitch. “The one thing that I would pinpoint was the unity in the camp and the dressing room atmosphere,” he said.
“There was a buzz around in the dressing room, which I loved.
“I've played in such teams in the 1990s where whenever we have done well, the dressing room atmosphere was phenomenal. It was just some kind of a buzz, a trigger. And that reflected on the kind cricket we played on the ground.”
The team’s next major multi-nation competition is the inaugural ICC Women’s Champions Trophy that India will host next year. It will be a T20 tournament and looking at the talent coming through, Muzumdar is upbeat about the future of Indian women’s cricket in the format.
