Even Australians know that they have to come with the best – Mithali Raj on IND-AUS World Cup 2025 semi-final

The Indian women's cricket team is all set to lock horns against the mighty Australian squad in the second semi-final of the ICC Women's World Cup 2025.

Speaking on the topic on ESPN Cricinfo, former Indian captain Mithali Raj opened up on the fact that if India can do the heavy lifting that they did in Vizag with 330 runs on the board, they might just get Australia into a bit of an uncomfortable corner. She also revealed the dynamics of how India might just start pushing the mighty Aussies on the backfoot with minor tweaks to their overall approach.

Mithali said, “Well, when it comes to the World Cups and when you're in the knockouts, you know you need to have that one good day on that day to get into the finals. Even Australians know that they have to come with the best in a knockout game. Otherwise, you're packing your bags.”

She further added, “So, for India, I know for a fact that they will be all positive and take a lot of strength from the group game that they've played in Vizag, for the fact that they were able to post 300 [330] because in the press [conference], I heard Alyssa Healy say that [it's] not every day that you chase 300. So that itself gives you a little bit [of a peek] into the thinking that, at some point, they felt these runs were a lot more [than they would have been comfortable chasing].”

Shedding light on the dynamics, the Indian icon added, “Well, one thing going well for the Indian team is that the spinners have done well. But the fact [is] that this venue [Navi Mumbai] has the least spin that it offers from the surface [of the World Cup venues]. So what would be the bowling unit, getting into the semi-finals? Second is that you need to get early breakthroughs. That's very important when you're playing Australia because they depend on the start Alyssa Healy and Phoebe Litchfield give. And if you go by the last couple of games, you know that Ellyse Perry is also not among the runs.”

She concluded by saying, “So it does give a little bit of hope that the middle order, still, with quality bowlers, can be curtailed. The runs can be curtailed in the middle overs if you put pressure on them. But if they get a partnership going, then that's trouble. You need to have bowlers who can break those partnerships.”