Australian legend Meg Lanning picks her favourites for the ICC Women’s ODI World Cup 2025

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Seven-time World Cup winner Meg Lanning has offered her expert predictions ahead of the highly anticipated ICC Women’s ODI Cricket World Cup 2025. As a former captain with an unmatched track record of five World Cup triumphs, Lanning’s insights carry significant weight. Speaking to ICC Digital, she provided a candid assessment of the teams with the best chance of lifting the trophy. While Australia will enter as defending champions, Lanning believes the competition has never been fiercer, with several nations poised to make a run at the title.

While Lanning openly admitted her desire to see her former team defend their title, she believes hosts India are poised to be the primary threat. “I know Australia has dominated a lot of it, but it’s certainly not a foregone conclusion. I’d still love Australia to win obviously, but I think India are the main competitors. I think India are a significant challenge to everybody,” Lanning said.

The former cricketer elaborated on her rationale, stating that the Indian team’s talent is undeniable. “Talent-wise, they’re as good as anyone and I think they are really starting to understand how to win, which probably has been something for them to work on and I think they’re doing that really nicely,” Lanning also praised Harmanpreet Kaur‘s leadership and the experience within the squad, adding, “They are well led by Harmanpreet Kaur and there are really good players who have got some good experience now. So I expect them to do well,” Her ultimate assessment was a testament to India’s potential: “And if they put it together and play well, I don’t think anyone can actually get close to them. They are very good,”

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Beyond the two main contenders, Lanning believes the tournament features a number of other sides capable of making a deep run. She noted that England, the 2017 champions, are a perennial force in the game. “So you’ve got England, who are always strong,” she stated. Lanning also acknowledged the consistent performances of South Africa in major tournaments. “South Africa… who have done pretty well at recent World Cups, they seem to be able to get it together when it’s important,” Lanning stated.

The former Australian captain also cautioned against underestimating New Zealand, highlighting their ability to peak at the right time. “And then, you can never write off New Zealand too. They showed in that T20 World Cup (2024) recently that if you time your run really nicely, then you never know what can happen. So that’s the beauty of the game – there’s some really good competitive sides out there,” Lanning concluded. The heightened competition sets the stage for what is expected to be a compelling and unpredictable tournament.

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This article was first published at WomenCricket.com, a Cricket Times company.