Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Netherlands, Bangladesh.
These are the only oppositions India have beaten in the last two editions of the Women's T20 World Cup. For a side that has seen its players reach giddying heights, especially since the emergence of the WPL in 2023, they have become less than the sum of the parts.
It is two T20 World Cups in a row that India - now a powerhouse in the women's game too - have failed to make it to the knockouts under Harmanpreet Kaur. Such is the nature of the T20 game that the team's successes and failures need to be seen in isolation from the ODI World Cup glory that came under her less than eight months ago.
Apart from the breakneck speed of T20 cricket, the format of the T20 World Cup is also unforgiving as losing even one match can push you into must-win territory. That's exactly where India were in when they faced Australia at the end of the league stage in the last two T20 World Cups, and failed to get over the line on both occasions.
In the 2024 edition, it was the opening loss against New Zealand that had thrown their campaign off the track. This time, it was the numerous fielding lapses against South Africa that cost them the match and significantly hurt their qualification chances.
"If I have to think about the entire tournament, I think we didn't play well against good teams and as a group we really need to rethink what we need to do against them," Harmanpreet said after the loss to Australia. "Sometimes we were in the game but in the last few overs we gave away easy runs and if we were chasing we were not able to get those runs while batting. So it's been happening for quite a long time, now we have to reset and rethink because next couple of months some good tournaments are coming up and hopefully we'll give our best."
The "rethink" she talks about again and again is not about one issue but many.
It was perhaps because of India's middle-order stutters in the previous games that Smriti Mandhana came out with a cautious approach against Australia and scored at about run a ball until her run-out. You want an above-par total against Australia but India were 134 for 2 after 18 overs. While Harmanpreet pulled the team out of the slump, the rest of the batters failed to fire.
The shuffling of Jemimah Rodrigues and Yastika Bhatia between Nos. 3 and 5 reflected a lack of role clarity for both. While Rodrigues has batted almost all her T20I career at No. 3 and was pushed out of her position at times, Bhatia has failed to make a mark as either No. 3 or No. 5 in her five-year, 26-game-old T20I career.
"I think we really have to rethink our strategy or our T20 game," head coach Amol Muzumdar said at the press conference, concurring with his captain. "We really need to put our heads around what combination we are going to play."
The one thing India could aim to find in the WPL is a finisher at No. 5 or 6, to go with Richa Ghosh. It was unfortunate that India have been without their premier allrounder Pooja Vastrakar for over a year, and lost Amanjot Kaur and Kashvee Gautam in the lead-up to the World Cup, before also seeing Shreyanka Patil pick up an injury early in the tournament. But allrounders aside, India need another six-hitter who can share the responsibility with Ghosh. Bharti Fulmali showed glimpses of being that batter during the 2025 WPL but her average and strike rate dipped this year, affecting the faith the team management were willing to put in her.
India also hardly looked sure about their pace combination as no fast bowler was given more than two games in a row and none of them - perhaps as a result - stood out. They did not look threatening with the ball in the powerplay or the death overs, even in the swing-friendly conditions in England. While the likes of Fatima Sana, Marizanne Kapp, Aaliyah Alleyne and Kathryn Bryce were among the wickets regularly, the most wickets an Indian pace bowler managed was three (Nandani Sharma).
When one World Cup cycle ends, it gives teams an opportunity to reflect and prepare for the next. Recently, India men's team set a brutal precedent by dropping their T20 World Cup-winning captain Suryakumar Yadav because of form. The selection panel saw a worthy successor in Shreyas Iyer, through his IPL leadership credentials, even though he had not played a T20I for India for more than two years.
Harmanpreet's age - 37 - and her captaincy record in the last two T20 World Cups pose the obvious question: is she the right candidate to lead the side in the next T20 World Cup? If the women's selectors feel the need for a change in leadership in the T20 set-up, this is the ideal time to do so, and give the next captain a proper run, even though Muzumdar wants Harmanpreet to continue in the role.
Thanks to the WPL, the women's selectors also have a candidate in 29-year-old Smriti Mandhana, who has lifted the trophy twice in four years as the RCB captain and has already led India in 18 T20Is and won 11 of them.
This doesn't mean India don't need Harmanpreet the batter. It was only because of her that India reached 170 against Australia on Sunday. Her presence in the side could not only provide Mandhana with a sounding board but also lend India time to find her replacement as a batter.
India have the Asian Games a few months later and the Champions Trophy early next year before the Olympics and the T20 World Cup in 2028.
The past is set in stone. It is now upon the selectors to shape the future.