Meg Lanning may be retired from international cricket but showed in India she could make Australia unbeatable

Meg Lanning is younger than the Australian captain who replaced her after her shock retirement and continues to show she could still be an international force.

Australia went undefeated in the Ashes, winning in record style without retired former skipper Meg Lanning who continues to show she could make the national team even more invincible.

Lanning, who played her last international in February 2023 before her retirement shocked the sport, produced a matchwinning performance in the Women’s Premier League in India and sits third on the run-scorers’ list, behind only two of the top-ranked players in the world.

Still only 32, which is younger than both the captain who replaced her, Alyssa Healy, who is 34, and superstar all-rounder Ellyse Perry, who is 35, Lanning readied herself for the WPL by knocking out 395 runs in eight 50-over games for Victoria.

Arguably Australia’s greatest female batter, she’s averaging 51 in that competition and in three innings for the Delhi Capitals has gone to 101 runs, including a matchwinning 69 off 49 balls in the win over UP Warriorz.

Off-side Goddess 👑pic.twitter.com/pzWOo0wNf3

— Delhi Capitals (@DelhiCapitals) February 19, 2025

Lanning belted 12 boundaries before her heir apparent, Annabel Sutherland, who collected her first Belinda Clarke award earlier this month, finished off the run chase with 41 runs off 35 balls.

“Happy to be on the right side,” said Lanning, also the Capitals captain.

“I felt I was positive from the first ball. Got my footwork going. We had some world-class players out there (in the closing stages of the chase).

“There’s always areas to improve, but I feel this was our best performance of the tournament so far.”

Australian all-round star Ash Gardner leads both the runs (141) and wickets (five) table early in the tournament, which features a plethora of Aussie stars.

Between them, Gardner and Sutherland will earn more than $900,000 for the three-week tournament, having stamped themselves as the world’s best.

Lanning shocked the cricket world when she announced her international retirement, which came after she took two breaks from the game to look after her mental health.

Originally published as Meg Lanning may be retired from international cricket but showed in India she could make Australia unbeatable