CWG 2022: Indian Women's Cricket Team To Shiva Thapa — 5 Darkhorse Medal Prospects

The Commonwealth Games 2022 Birmingham will be a major platform for Indian athletes to shine and mark their presence at the global event.

Indian Women Cricket Team will participate in the Initial T20 tournament in Birmingham Games 2022

Source : BCCI' Women's official twitter handle

CWG 2022: Commonwealth Games 2022 sets a big stage and occasion for countries to display their sporting prowess to millions around the world. CWG 2022 is going to be held from July 28 to August 8, 2022, in Birmingham, England. The multi-sport event lays a perfect platform for the Indian contingents to showcase their skill-set in their arsenal. India is one of the 72 countries participating in the global event, and it will be the 18^th appearance in the Commonwealth Games.

The 173 Indian athletes (85 men and 88 women) will reportedly take part in the following events:

• Athletics
• Badminton
• Boxing
• Cricket
• Cycling
• Hockey
• Judo
• Squash
• Swimming
• Table Tennis
• Triathlon
• Weightlifting
• Wrestling

Much will be expected from 2020 Tokyo Olympics medallists to bring home medals, with Neeraj Chopra holding much higher expectations. The Indian fans will be hoping for Neeraj to repeat his last year’s heroics at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics when he bagged the gold medal in the javelin throw event.

Other favourites for medals will be recently crowned Singapore Open champion, PV Sindhu, 2020 Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Lovlina Borgohain and silver medallist Saikhom Mirabai Chanu.

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However, there will be certain Indian darkhorse that can finish on the podium. Here are 5 Indians to watch out for at the Birmingham Games 2022:

1. Shiva Thapa: The 28-year-old Assamese boxer will be one of the darkhorse to watch out for in this year’s Commonwealth Games. Thapa is also the youngest Indian boxer ever to qualify for the Olympics. An Asian Games gold-medallist, and bronze medallist in World Championship, Thapa’s resume does not include any medal at the Commonwealth Games and with the experience, he gained since his breakthrough from the London Olympics 2012, Birmingham Games 2022 will lay a platform for the Bantamweight and Lightweight category boxer to add a Commonwealth Games medal to his resume.
2. Dipika Pallikal: The 30-year-old Kerela-born squash player will be aiming to better her previous feat at the Commonwealth Games, when she bagged a silver medal in the Women’s Doubles category in Gold Coast, 2018. The veteran, though previously, has been a gold medallist at the Commonwealth Games back in 2014, in Glasgow and since then, she didn’t win any gold medal until this year’s World Championships in Glasgow, when she bagged two gold medals, one in Women’s Doubles, and the second one in Mixed Doubles. Dipika will be coming into this tournament with momentum and experience on her side.
3. Joshna Chinappa: The 35-year-old Chennai-born squash player is part of India’s famous Women’s squash pair as she is paired with Dipika Pallikal. Just like Dipika, Joshna too will be aiming to bring home the gold medal as she also comes into the event on the back of an impressive gold medal win in the Women’s Doubles event at the 2022 World Championships in Glasgow. Joshna and Dipika won the Silver medal at the 2018 Gold Coast Games and will be one of the best players to look out for in the sport of Squash.
4. Indian Women’s Cricket Team: The T-20 Cricket will be making its debut in the Commonwealth Games this year and so does Women’s Cricket. Harmanpreet Kaur will be leading the Indian team and are grouped alongside arch-rivals Pakistan, World Champions Australia, and Barbados in Group A. The side will be boasting some of the best talents of the Modern Era as players like Shafali Verma, Smriti Mandhana, Deepti Sharma, and Pooja Vastrakar will leave their mark on the initial Women’s Cricket event in the Commonwealth Games.
5. Hima Das: Neeraj Chopra will not be the only Gold-medal hope for India in Athletics this summer. Hima Das from Assam will be one of the most interesting athletes to look out for. The 22-year-old “Dhing Express” boasts many accolades on her resume in her short career to date. Hima Das is the first Indian athlete to win a gold medal in a track event at the IAAF World U20 Championships. She is also the current Indian national record in 400 meters with a timing of 50.79 s that she clocked at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia. Hima Das has 2 gold medals (Women’s 4x400m relay and Mixed 4x400m relay) and one silver medal Women’s 400m) in Asian Games, all won in the 2018 Jakarta Games. The Assamese will be in the team of Women’s 4x400m relay alongside teammates Dhanlakshmi Sekar, Dutee Chand, Srabani Nanda, MV Jilna, and NS Simi.