Former skipper Meg Lanning feels Australia’s “unimaginable depth” which has been in full show all through the event offers the seven-time champions an edge over India within the ladies’s ODI World Cup semifinals in Navi Mumbai on Thursday.

Defending champions Australia are chasing their record-extending eighth title within the event and they’re the one unbeaten aspect within the event. Australia had overwhelmed India by three wickets within the league stage.

“I believe Australia have simply bought unimaginable depth. They’ve proven all through the event that they’re not reliant on one or two gamers,” Lanning instructed ‘ICC Overview’.

“And even when they do lose some early wickets with the bat, there’s some actual large energy in direction of the backend that may type of get them out of various conditions,” mentioned 33-year-old Lanning, who gained the World Cup twice, together with as soon as as captain.

Lanning believes India will miss the scoring energy of injured opener Pratika Rawal and reckons that the time is correct for captain Harmanpreet Kaur to step up and ship.

“For India, I’m going to go along with captain Harmanpreet Kaur. She’s had a superb event, however she’s most likely but to essentially explode and dominate a sport.

Alive within the event by a contact of fortune, hosts India will seek for a spark of magic harking back to skipper Harmanpreet Kaur’s legendary knock eight years in the past as they tackle the mighty Australia in a blockbuster Ladies’s World Cup semifinal right here on Thursday.

Kaur’s 115-ball 171 not out at Derby, England, in 2017 semifinal towards Australia was seminal second which catapulted ladies’s cricket from the footnote to the headlines.

A victory over the seven-time world champions wouldn’t solely ignite India’s marketing campaign but in addition gas perception that an elusive ICC crown is inside attain. For a workforce that has flirted with inconsistency, Thursday’s sport affords India an opportunity to defeat considered one of sport’s most dominant sides.

India’s marketing campaign has been as taxing as it may be for a World Cup host, particularly when the workforce had its again pressed firmly towards the wall following three defeats on the trot, from which they fought again to discover a place within the semifinals. However then they misplaced a key batter in Pratika Rawal to harm.

There isn’t a room for error now as India are left within the ring with every of these opponents who had outmatched them in league conferences.

However earlier than they take the sector, India will face some most pertinent questions on nailing their workforce mixture.

The inclusion of the big-hitting Shafali Verma, who was neither in India’s plans nor among the many six reserve gamers, certainly provides extra gas to the hearth. However her report with vice-captain Smriti Mandhana — 893 runs in 25 innings at 37.20 — seems to be inferior to Rawal and Mandhana’s 1,799 runs in 23 innings at 78.21 as a gap pair.