India were among the favourites at the recent T20 World Cup, but they were exposed on a number of fronts which resulted in a league-stage exit. The upcoming T20 Asia Cup gives them an opportunity to start planning for the 2028 T20 World Cup, and on the way, they will also compete in two more T20 tournaments: the T20 Champions Trophy (early 2027), and the LA28 Olympics (July 2028). Here are some of the issues India would want to resolve quickly.
Who's India's No. 3?
With Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana at the top, what India need is a steady hand at No. 3. The incumbent is Jemimah Rodrigues, but the team management moved her down the order to accommodate Yastika Bhatia at one-down after two games during the T20 World Cup, only to bring Rodrigues back at No. 3 for the last league match.
This uncertainty around the spot was evident in the last T20 World Cup too, in 2024, when India shuffled Rodrigues and Harmanpreet Kaur until they were knocked out. It's curious that in the lead up to both World Cups, it looked like Rodrigues was the No. 3, but they strayed from that plan once the tournament began - although it's evident that Rodrigues is their best option at the position in the format by some distance.
This Asia Cup will hardly help India solve this particular problem because Rodrigues is out with a hamstring injury and Pratika Rawal has replaced her in the squad. It does, however, give India the chance to hone a back-up No. 3 and prepare for 2028 with Rodrigues locked in for the spot.
Who's the finisher?
India didn't have a good finisher in T20Is until Richa Ghosh arrived in 2020. But recent injuries to allrounders Pooja Vastrakar, Amanjot Kaur and Kashvee Gautam have resulted in Ghosh being left to do all the heavy lifting one her own, particularly when it comes to six-hitting.
While Ghosh has smashed 32 sixes in T20Is from Nos. 5-7 in the last five years, the next best on the list from India is Deepti Sharma with five.
Harmanpreet often does the job too, but she bats at No. 4, and is 37, and India need to groom someone to give Ghosh company for the coming years.
The WPL is now four seasons old, and there too India haven't seen a clear option emerge. Ghosh leads the six-hitting charts in the WPL as well with 36 sixes in 20 innings, with the next-best Indian being Bharti Fulmali with 14 from as many innings. Fulmali returned to T20Is recently after seven years in the build-up to the recent World Cup, but got only sporadic chances: two in South Africa in April for scores of 2 and 40, before only one innings - where she scored 7 - in the England bilaterals when Harmanpreet was rested.
During the World Cup too, Fulmali played just the opening game, where she lasted three balls, before being left out to accommodate Bhatia in the top order.
Now that India have dropped Bhatia for both the Asia Cup and the Asian Games in September, the time is ripe to give Fulmali a long rope against different oppositions and even try out the 18-year-old G Kamalini, Bhatia's replacement, in some games.
Who's the leader of the pace attack?
India's pace attack doesn't inspire much confidence in T20Is either. As much as Kranti Gaud's promise and Nandani Sharma's recent rise bode well, their inexperience showed in the T20 World Cup. Add to that Arundhati Reddy's expensive spells and Renuka Singh's numbers tapering off, India's pacers ended with only five wickets, the joint-lowest, in the tournament.
That their pace unit's economy rate was better than only Netherlands' and the average was the third-poorest are worrying signs, especially with Renuka managing her workload and injuries this year.
India's pace attack remains the same for the Asia Cup. They won't be tested the same way as they were in England, and the time is opportune for them to identify (1) what went wrong with Renuka despite her being the most experienced; (2) why they were unable to pick wickets - especially in the powerplay and death overs; and (3) what is their first-choice pace attack with the Asia Cup (Dubai), the Asian Games (Japan), the Champions Trophy (Sri Lanka) and the next T20 World Cup (Pakistan) all being played in Asia.
Should India look beyond Harmanpreet as captain?
Two consecutive T20 World Cups without making the semi-finals, no Asia Cup title in 2024, and a poor record as T20I captain overall in multi-nation tournaments. Since Harmanpreet took over as full-time captain ten years ago, she has led India in 15 T20 tournaments involving three or more teams, and won only three of them: two Asia Cups (2016 and 2022), and one Asian Games (2023).
So, under Harmanpreet, whenever India have taken part in tournaments, even triangulars, when any of Australia, England and South Africa have also participated, India have not lifted the trophy.
Dig a little deeper and it also emerges that the only teams India have defeated in the last two T20 World Cups have been Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Netherlands. Harmanpreet herself used the words "rethink" and "reset" after they were knocked out in the recent World Cup when asked what went wrong.
Harmanpreet is 37 and has battled a few injuries in recent years - including a knee issue in the UK. The last thing India would want is for her to break down or for her to go out of form in the lead up to the 2028 T20 World Cup, factors that aren't totally in a player's control.
Perhaps the selectors need to take a leaf out of the men's selection panel's book, as they removed Suryakumar Yadav soon after he helped India win the T20 World Cup earlier this year. It was his poor form in the last 18 months that cost him a place in the side, and the selectors saw a ready candidate in Shreyas Iyer, going by his captaincy record in the IPL.
Similarly, the women's team has a potential candidate in the vice-captain Mandhana, who has proven her mettle as T20 captain with two WPL trophies in four seasons, and is in one of the best phases of her batting career. Mandhana is 30, and if given the captaincy soon, she could get nearly two years to build a team for the next T20 World Cup.
By no means does it mean Harmanpreet shouldn't be in the side, as she is still among the best boundary-hitters in the team and holds a vital position at No. 4. But that doesn't necessarily mean she is the ideal captain at this stage.
Are India sure of their ideal T20 XI?
In a tournament that allows a maximum squad strength of 15, India used 16 players in the recent T20 World Cup. Of course, part of that was because of an injury to Shreyanka Patil, but the fact remains that India used more players than anyone else in the tournament; Pakistan were the only other team to use all 15. While India's bowling coach Aavishkar Salvi called it a policy of "horses for courses", the constant chopping and changing reflected the mentality of a team management that wasn't sure, an XI that wasn't settled, and a team that was far from reaching its potential.
Whether it was Rodrigues being shuffled up and down, the lack of clarity around Bhatia and Fulmali, and Nandani being the only quick bowler to get three games in a row, all of it culminated in India looking unsettled. These many tweaks also tend to dent players' confidence, and it's a situation they were expected to avoid by playing a bilateral series in England before the World Cup.
The Asia Cup will give India three league games - and another two games if they make it to the final, a run they would want to use to firm up a solid XI without too many variables. Not just for the Asia Cup, but the tougher battles ahead.