Former India captain Anjum Chopra has said batting must spearhead India's challenge at the 2026 ICC Women's T20 World Cup, warning that the bowling unit is still a work in progress and will need to dig significantly deeper if the side is to lift the trophy. India open their campaign against Pakistan on Sunday in Birmingham.

India's Recent Form and the Batting Burden

India arrive at the tournament as ODI World Champions, but their T20 form over the past six months has been inconsistent. The side claimed series wins at home against Sri Lanka and away against Australia, yet stumbled in back-to-back overseas assignments — losing 4-1 to South Africa and 2-1 to England.

Chopra was direct about what that record demands. 'In my view, batting leads the way in this Indian team. If that has to happen, then there is no room for faltering of the batters because we are playing five specialist batters in this lineup and team. If five batters specializing only in one field are there, then there is no room for failures,' she said.

The Yastika Bhatia Question at Number Three

Yastika Bhatia, returning from an ACL surgery on her left knee that ruled her out of the ODI World Cup winning campaign, was slotted at number three in the recent England T20I series. The move pushed Jemimah Rodrigues and Harmanpreet Kaur down to four and five respectively. Yastika finished as the series' leading run-scorer with 119 runs, though her strike rate of 126.79 was the lowest among the top five scorers.

Chopra attributed the positional shift to a thin middle-order pool. 'I understand why these changes have been made and one big reason is the fact that they don't have many options to bat at number three,' she explained. On Yastika's measured scoring rate, Chopra urged patience: 'She is actually coming off a big injury lay-off and that fluency is there in the stroke play. But the fluency is not there on the park in terms of running between and even fielding and that has to be managed in the side.'

Bharti Fulmali's Missed Opportunities

Chopra was candid about Bharti Fulmali's failure to nail down a middle-order berth. The all-rounder had been picked for tours to Australia and South Africa without cementing her place. 'I don't think Bharti has taken her chances and there is no hiding from that fact,' Chopra said. She added that Fulmali's initial selection during the 2026 Women's Premier League (WPL) had surprised her, and that the batter's inconsistency had contributed to the batting order reshuffle. 'The day she was picked for the Indian team, since then till the last, I didn't see the bat and the ball meeting nicely for Bharti Fulmali while playing for the franchise at all,' she noted.

Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh and Batting Flexibility

On Deepti Sharma's promotion ahead of Richa Ghosh in the Taunton T20I, Chopra said it was primarily about giving Deepti more time in the middle. 'I felt it was just about giving Deepti Sharma a little more game time out there in the centre,' she said. While acknowledging the flexibility of India's batting order, Chopra expressed reservations: 'I am not a big fan of flexibility myself because I feel that every batter should know where they are playing, what they are doing.' She did, however, leave the door open for Richa to be promoted if the situation demands it.

Bowling Concerns and the Road Ahead

Chopra was blunt in her assessment of India's bowling. 'Bowling has to try very hard to find ways to pick up wickets of the opposition camp. They have to literally dig deeper than what we saw in the first three T20 games against England,' she said. She also highlighted fielding as a crucial variable, noting that India will play many matches in daytime conditions given the IST time difference, which could affect ground fielding.

On conditions for the Pakistan opener, Chopra said India would adjust their combination to the surface. 'If it's a spin-assisted track in Birmingham against Pakistan, obviously you will find an extra spinner in the Indian team. If it's a good batting track, then I don't think the Indian team will pack it up with an additional spinner. They will still go with a three-seam bowling option,' she concluded.

With the tournament underway, all eyes will be on whether India's batting can fire consistently enough to compensate for a bowling attack that, by their own legend's admission, is still finding its feet.