New Delhi: Australia legend Meg Lanning has highlighted the intense pressure that India captain Harmanpreet Kaur and her team will face at the upcoming Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025, which will be played on home soil.
Lanning, who led Australia to their seventh ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup title in 2022 and captained the team to four ICC Women’s T20 World Cup victories, shared her insights on the unique challenges of playing at home. “There’s definitely a lot of added pressure at a home World Cup. You get more media, more scrutiny, and very high expectations. That’s an added layer to everything,” she told ICC Digital.
She recalled Australia’s experience hosting the 2020 T20 World Cup, where the team struggled in the early group games. “We didn’t get off to a good start, and we were under pressure pretty quickly. Until you’re actually in it—and especially if things don’t go well—you can’t fully prepare for that added bit of pressure,” Lanning said.
The former captain emphasized that home teams, including India, must manage the heightened expectations while balancing the advantages of playing in familiar surroundings. “World Cups carry their own unique pressure, but there are positives as well. You get your home crowd, family, and friends. You are in your home comforts. But in terms of the added pressure, that’s something you can’t really prepare for,” she added.
Lanning reflected on Australia’s 2020 home T20 World Cup final, where they overcame an early defeat to India in the tournament to win by 85 runs in front of a record-breaking crowd at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. “We tried to be ready, but in the first game, we weren’t fully prepared for what was going to happen. We adjusted eventually,” she said.
The Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025 will open with India taking on Sri Lanka on September 30, setting the stage for Harmanpreet Kaur and her team to navigate the pressures and expectations of playing in front of a home crowd.
