Follow UsWhen India lifted their maiden ICC Women’s World Cup title in 2025, one of the brightest stories to emerge from the tournament was that of Sree Charani, the young left-arm spinner whose composure and skill played a defining role in the team’s triumph.
Barely seven months after making her international debut in April 2025, Charani became a central figure in India’s bowling attack, finishing the tournament with 14 wickets in nine matches at an average of 27.64. Her ability showed against Australia when she claimed 2 for 49 in her ten overs during the semi-final and followed it up with a tight spell of 1 for 48 in nine overs in the final against South Africa in Navi Mumbai.
Among the many who lauded her impact was former India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, who described Charani as “the biggest reason for India to win this World Cup.” Speaking on his YouTube channel, Ashwin offered a detailed analysis of her technique.
“Her ball rotation is at the correct speed. If it matches Sophie Ecclestone, Jess Jonassen or Sophie Molineux, her weight transfer, she goes into a lovely side-on position. From there, her hand comes to the front. There is no collapse anywhere. There is no energy leakage,” he said.
“She crushed the World Cup. She is the biggest reason for India to win this World Cup. She is going to be a superstar bowler in the future.”
Ashwin also reflected on the larger significance of the achievement and credited captain Harmanpreet Kaur and the team for transforming years of near-misses into glory.
“The seed she has sown, after ten or twenty years, like how Kapil Dev sowed it in 1983 or Dhoni in 2007 and 2011, we will talk about this as well,” he said.