Women's Cricket World Cup: Can Vizag’s Balanced Pitch Revive India’s Batting Fortunes?

As the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup 2025 intensifies, the Indian women's team finds a silver lining in the batsman-friendly conditions at the Dr PVG Raju Andhra Cricket Association-Visakhapatnam District Cricket Association (ACA-VDCA) Stadium. Hosting women's ODIs after an 11-year hiatus—the last being India's encounter with Sri Lanka on January 23, 2014—the venue promises a more equitable surface for Harmanpreet Kaur's side, which has struggled to post imposing totals in the tournament's opening fixtures. With crucial matches against South Africa on October 9 and defending champions Australia on October 12, the balanced pitch could prove pivotal in bolstering India's net run rate and chasing semifinal aspirations in the 50-over showpiece co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka.

India kicked off the tournament with a gritty seven-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in Guwahati on September 28, restricting the hosts to 168 before chasing it down, thanks to half-centuries from Jemimah Rodrigues and Richa Ghosh. However, their batting faltered in the second game against Pakistan in Colombo on October 3, labouring to 247 all out after electing to bat, only to defend it by 10 runs via a clinical bowling display led by Deepti Sharma's 4/42. Opener Smriti Mandhana, the tournament's leading run-scorer with 1,355 ODI runs at a strike rate of 95.4, managed just 8 and 31 in those outings, while skipper Kaur's 15 highlighted top-order woes against disciplined seam and spin attacks. These modest hauls—contrasting India's historical firepower—have left the team reliant on middle-order rescues, underscoring the need for rhythm on a surface that favours strokeplay.

An Andhra Cricket Association (ACA) official, speaking to PTI, described the pitch as offering "good help to batters," drawing parallels to recent high-scoring IPL 2025 games at the venue, where Delhi Capitals chased 200-plus totals twice. In men's ODIs, the stadium's record includes India's 387/5 against the West Indies in 2019—the highest score here—alongside four instances above 320 and six between 280 and 299. T20Is have seen even brisker chases, with spinners gaining grip later sans dew. This bodes well for India's women, who could target 300-plus totals, leveraging the dimensions (70 m square boundaries) and true bounce. Weather forecasts predict clear skies with temperatures around 28-32°C, minimising interruptions and allowing full overs, unlike rain-hit games elsewhere in the tournament.

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Adding prestige to the Australia fixture, the ACA will dedicate stands to former captain Mithali Raj and regional pioneer Ravi Kalpana on October 12, honouring their legacies in women's cricket. Raj, India's highest ODI run-scorer with 7,805 runs in 232 matches at 50.68—including seven centuries—retired in 2022 after captaining 125 ODIs and scoring 2,364 T20I runs. Kalpana, from Andhra Pradesh, featured in seven ODIs between 2015 and 2016, inspiring talents like Arundhati Reddy and S. Meghana.

The initiative stemmed from opener Mandhana's suggestion to IT Minister Nara Lokesh during an August fireside chat, reflecting Andhra's push for gender parity. "This tribute underscores our commitment to trailblazers who redefined women's cricket," the ACA stated, as India—currently second in the points table with two wins from two—eyes a top-four finish to advance.

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