India, Oct. 17 -- Harmanpreet Kaur's India entered the ICC Women's World Cup 2025 as one of the favourites, but two back-to-back losses against South Africa and Australia have derailed the hosts' campaign. The eight-team tournament is slowly approaching the business end, and India have everything to play for in their upcoming fixture against England at the Holkar Stadium in Indore. One of the main issues hindering India's performance is its underperforming middle-order.

Harleen Deol and Harmanpreet Kaur are yet to fire for the hosts. There is an overdependence of sorts on the two opening batters - Smriti Mandhana and Pratika Rawal. In the first three fixtures against Sri Lanka, Pakistan and South Africa, India were rescued by lower-order...