NEW DELHI: Harmanpreet Kaur-led India are gearing as much as face New Zealand of their opening Group A match of the Ladies’s T20 World Cup on the Dubai Worldwide Cricket Stadium on Friday. This marks the ninth version of the event, with India nonetheless chasing their maiden T20 World Cup title. Their closest alternative got here in 2020 once they reached the ultimate however had been defeated by a dominant Australian facet on the Melbourne Cricket Floor.
Decided to place previous disappointments behind them, India will search for a powerful begin to their marketing campaign as they set their sights on erasing the recollections of earlier near-misses.
Forward of India’s opening conflict towards New Zealand in Dubai, TimesofIndia.com spoke with Harmanpreet throughout an occasion hosted by Puma India. The Indian captain shared her ideas on the crew’s title prospects, potential mixtures, and extra. Edited excerpts:
The Indian males’s cricket crew has delivered; is it now time for the ladies to elevate the coveted trophy?
You’re placing strain on us by saying this (laughs). We’re actually excited and need to give our greatest. The crew has carried out very well and ready so much for this massive event. We won’t depart a single stone unturned. We’re constructive, and I’m assured we are going to come by way of with flying colours.
Can we anticipate Harmanpreet to copy what Rohit achieved in Barbados?
Sure, hopefully. That is our intention. As I mentioned, we’re ready, we’re constructive, and we simply need to exit and provides our greatest. We all the time discuss within the dressing room about how it is a nice alternative for us. I inform my crew one factor: go and luxuriate in your recreation. That is it.
Who do you suppose are two key gamers for India on this World Cup?
In case you ask me as a captain, all gamers are equally essential to me. They’ve completely different roles to play on the sphere, and I do know what they will convey to the desk. For me, each single participant is essential. Whoever is within the center should take accountability and win the sport for us.
Have you ever had an opportunity to evaluate the situations within the UAE?
Earlier, the event was going to be performed in Bangladesh, and now it will likely be held within the UAE. The situations can be robust, and I’ll alter the mixtures accordingly.
May you share your ideas in your aggressive method on the sphere?
That is fairly pure. It is not one thing exaggerated or out of the field. The aggression in me is pure. It drives me ahead, and that’s how I’ve all the time been. Each time I am on the sphere, I simply need to see my crew win. That is the mindset I’ve performed with all through.
Would you say Jemimah Rodrigues is probably the most entertaining member of the crew?
Sure. She is the center of the crew. She’s all the time cheerful and ensures the dressing room surroundings stays energetic. She retains an enormous smile on each single participant’s face. It is actually good to have her on the facet. It is all the time nice to have such gamers who convey vitality to the crew and the dressing room.
How has the WPL contributed to the expansion of Indian ladies’s cricket?
It’s serving to us so much, similar to the IPL helps males’s cricket. We have been ready for this league for therefore a few years. It is a large platform for all ladies’s cricketers. The WPL is a superb stage and has introduced loads of expertise to Indian cricket. I actually liked enjoying within the WPL. Personally, that is one thing I’ve been ready for a very long time. Now that the platform is right here, I am having fun with each little bit of it.
