The Indian women’s team ahead of the senior women’s Twenty20 (T20) World Cup that’s scheduled to be played in South Africa is set to feature in a Tri-Series alongside the Tri-Series and World Cup hosts, South Africa and the West Indies. The series gets underway on the 19th of January and below, we brief you on quotes from Indian skipper, Harmanpreet Kaur’s pre-series media interaction.
India’s all-format skipper, Harmanpreet Kaur during the presser touched upon Shikha Pandey’s return, 57-year-old Australian, Troy Cooley’s appointment as fast bowling coach, Pooja Vastrakar’s injury update, and also the takeaways from recent series defeat to Australia.
On 57-year-old, Troy Cooley’s appointment, Harmanpreet said, “Troy has joined us. We have already worked with him whenever we go to NCA and almost every bowler knows him very well. They know how he works and all. So he is already with the team and we are working with him.
Captain Harmanpreet Kaur confirmed that Troy Cooley is with the team as Bowling Coach#CricketTwitter #TeamIndia pic.twitter.com/0WhP50sCNx
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) January 19, 2023
“He is sharing his experience with all our bowlers. We had a couple of sessions with him where he was giving tips to the bowlers. I think he is working really well, hopefully, we will see the results also.”
On return after 14 months, senior pacer, Shikha Pandey’s role is understood to be clear. Skipper, Harmanpreet Kaur, said, “She’s (Shikha) a very experienced bowler, that’s the only reason we wanted to bring her in the side. The tracks in South Africa are more friendly. We wanted to strengthen our medium pace lineup as we are in South Africa. We need more pace bowling options. She (Shikha) did really well in the domestic season. She has done really well for the country whenever she got an opportunity. That’s the reason she has been recalled.”
Harmanpreet Kaur added, “She’s someone who can swing in powerplay, she has the experience to bowl in death overs also. We have given her different types of scenarios where she can go and execute herself. We just want to play our natural game, that’s what we are discussing. We don’t want to try anything extra, and continue what we are doing well.”
Pooja Vastrakar, who’d missed the series against Australia is learned to be bowling in the nets in South Africa. Harmanpreet Kaur, said, “She (Pooja Vastrakar) is with us, and she is doing really well in the nets. The last call can only be taken by the physio. But I can see she is batting and bowling well. Before finalizing the final XI, we just need to have a chat with the physio.
“We need to see what kind of workload we have to manage as she missed out on the Australia series because of injury. But she’s doing everything in all departments, and she’s a very important member of the side, and we need to discuss her workload.”
While India lost their home 5-match Twenty20 International (T20I) series to Australia, skipper, Harmanpreet Kaur reflected on the positive side stating, “We want to play our natural game, we don’t want to try something new. South Africa is a country where you have good tracks to bat on, and it also helps the bowlers. We just want to enjoy our cricket.”
“We had a very good series against Australia (at home), though we did not win, there were lots of positives we achieved as a team. We want to keep doing the good work. Ahead of the World Cup, this series is very important to get the rhythm back.”
(Quotes sourced from Cricbuzz)