By Janhvi Ahuja
As the International Cricket Council (ICC) Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025 draws near, focus shifts to the players who are likely contenders for the top run scorer accolade. From experienced run accumulators to powerful hitters, this article reflects upon the batters to keep an eye on from each of the teams participating in India and Sri Lanka.
The World Cup commenced with a momentous event in Guwahati, where the opening match between India and Sri Lanka established a new record for attendance on the initial day of any Women’s Cricket World Cup. The match attracted 22,843 spectators at the ACA Stadium, marking the highest attendance for a group stage match in Women’s World Cup history.
This surpassed the previous record of 15,935 which was achieved during the India-Pakistan ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Group A Match that took place in 2024. This achievement is the latest in a series of milestones and accomplishments from the ongoing prestigious tournament. This has also introduced new standards in fan accessibility and a record prize money pool.
If we magnify India’s perspective, we can see that Smriti Mandhana leads the ICC ODI batting rankings and her consistency in the longer formats along with her skillset clearly showcase why. The 29 year old Indian vice-captain,Smriti has achieved three centuries and three half centuries in the ODI matches in 2025 alone. This boasts an average of 62 across her 13 innings this year. These impressive totals have been against some of her toughest opponents, including a score of 117 against Australia as India secured victory in their match.
Similarly, in the previous year, Samarawickrama emerged as the leading run scorer for Sri Lanka in One Day Internationals (ODIs). Since the commencement of 2025, she has achieved four half centuries with her highest score recorded against World Cup competitors from South Africa. This is when she made an impressive individual score of 77, contributing to Sri Lanka’s victory. This twentyseven year old cricketer is undoubtedly eager to demonstrate her capabilities to the Colombo audience during the World Cup.
Sharim on the other hand, has consistently displayed her skills at the crease during Bangladesh’s qualifiers this year. She narrowly missed her first ODI century as her score summed up to around 20 runs. Yet, she finished with an impressive 94 not out win against Thailand. As Bangladesh’s leading ODI run scorer over the past year, she is now deemed to be crucial for success and for making an impact during their second appearance in the tournament.
The current Women’s Cricket World Cup marks the 14th edition of this prestigious event. The competition, featuring eight teams, will act as a platform that showcases the finest talent in the world that is competing for the ultimate accolade in Women’s cricket.