Renuka Singh Thakur’s comeback sets the tone for India’s World Cup push

There are moments in sport that begin loud and end quietly—like a fast bowler steaming in, a single ball that bends the course of a game, and then the hush as everyone realises what just happened.

On the eve of the Women’s World Cup, which begins tomorrow with India opening their campaign against Sri Lanka, Renuka Singh Thakur’s comeback carries that same mix of force and stillness.

She has returned to the side with the kind of control that unsettles top batters, the same in-swing that nuzzles the stumps and the discipline in the early overs that asks more questions than it answers.

Brought into the second ODI as India trailed, Renuka repaid the faith with a polished power-play spell. She struck early, removing Georgia Voll, and conceded just 23 runs in her first six overs. It was a statement that the new ball once again belonged to India. The game turned.

She came back to bowl the 18th over; however, after three balls, Renuka felt a sharp pain in her shin and had to leave the field while Arundhati Reddy completed the over. The team will hope the scan is kind, for the World Cup, starting September 30, needs the calm menace she brings. As India faces Sri Lanka tomorrow, all eyes will be on Renuka’s fitness as the team looks to build momentum for the global stage.

A career built on comebacks

Return after an injury is familiar territory for Renuka. The stress fracture that has sidelined her since December 2024 is the latest in a career built on coming back stronger.

From a small village in Parsa, Rohru, she learned determination early. She lost her father at the age of three, was noticed by an uncle who steered her to the Himachal Pradesh residential academy, and quietly put in the work that only the village and ground know.

She joined the HPCA academy at fifteen, took two years to break into the senior state side, then climbed steadily through domestic ranks. A 21-wicket season in 2018–19 opened doors to the Challenger Trophy and India A, and a job with Northern Railways in 2021 gave her the stability to focus on her craft.

International honours followed—starting with a maiden T20I in Australia—and then the consistency that has marked her as one of India’s sharper new-ball operators.

What separates Renuka is technique married to temperament. Coaches and peers note a smooth, repeatable action, and a willingness to bowl to a spot repeatedly.

It is the same advice she picked up from the great Jhulan Goswami: land the ball on the same patch and force the batter to play a guessing game. Since the 2022 ODI World Cup, she has taken more than 30 wickets, placing her among the top five new-ball specialists globally. These numbers underline why her presence matters beyond a single match.

For India, Renuka’s value is not only the scalp column. She brings leadership to a relatively inexperienced pace group—the authority with the new ball, control in the power play, and a belief that steadiness can tilt a contest.

That combination is what selectors and team management have highlighted when naming squads. Neetu David, former India spinner and the chief selector of the Indian women’s cricket team, mentioned, “Renuka has always been a precious player; she had some niggles, but she is available now. She is our main player for this World Cup.”

If sport loves a story of return, Renuka’s is of steady, earned re-entrance. She has known hard breaks before and has rebuilt with routine and repetition.

As the tournament approaches, the hope is simple: that the bowler who once learned to persist in the shadows of small-town grounds will lead India’s seamers into light big enough for a team to chase a dream.

In a World Cup where margins are measured in inches and intent, her swing, especially in the power play, and the calm behind it, may be a small thing that goes a long way in deciding India’s World Cup fate this year.