“We just need to keep doing the right things, and results will come.” Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur speaks about focusing on the preparations for the upcoming ICC Women’s T20 World Cup.
The Indian women’s team led by skipper Harmanpreet Kaur has kickstarted their preparations in style by completing a dominating whitewash against Bangladesh in their own backyard with a comprehensive 21-run victory in the 5th T20I.
There were a lot of positives for the women in blue to build on from the series as we inch closer to the upcoming ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in Bangladesh. A squad contained a perfect mixture of experience and youth in the form of rising stars who impressed in the 2nd edition of the WPL. A sensational return of the 24-year-old left-arm spinner Radha Yadav after a more than a year-long absence from the national setup.
She made her way back into the Indian set-up on the back of impressive performances in the 2nd edition of the Women’s Premier League. She picked up 10 wickets at an average of 18.70 and an economy of 7.48 in nine innings. She also had an impressive outing with the ball in the Senior Women’s Inter Zonal Multi-Day Trophy for the West Zone as she picked up nine wickets in four innings.
She was the Player of the Match in the 5th T20I and was also awarded the Player of the Series for ending the series as the leading wicket-taker with 10 wickets to her name at an average of 9.60 and a brilliant economy of 5.05 in five innings. India’s regular number three Jemimah Rodrigues missed out on being a part of the series courtesy of a back injury. Jemimah’s absence provided an opportunity for the likes of Dayalan Hemalatha, marking her return to the team after a 15-month break. Before the series against Bangladesh, she last played for India in the Women’s T20 Asia Cup in Bangladesh in the year 2022.
She showcased her power-hitting abilities through the course of the series, scoring 109 runs at an impressive strike rate of 141.55 and an average of 36.33 in four innings in the recently concluded T20I series against Bangladesh. Her impressive performances in the WPL played a crucial role in her comeback to the Indian team. “The WPL gave our players a lot of confidence, because, the way a lot of us played in the WPL, we have improved our game during that time, and those results are giving results here. We just need to keep doing the right things, and results will come.” Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur speaks about how WPL played a crucial role in producing refined performances in the recently concluded series.
The Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur also seemed to be back into her groove as she is back amongst the runs. She was the third-highest run-scorer of the series with 105 runs at a strike rate of 128.04 and an impressive average of 35 in four innings. The 33-year-old leg-spinner from Kerela became the oldest Indian Women’s player and overall the third-oldest Indian after Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar to make her T20I debut for India. She had an impressive debut as she picked up four wickets, a couple of wickets each in two innings.
“The calmness all the players showed in the series is something I would like to take to the World Cup. There was some calmness while batting, while bowling, and even in the fielding even though we made some mistakes, we know how we can improve, and in the next one month, we will work hard on that.” Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur appreciates the calmness and composure shown by the players, while also speaking about working on the areas of improvement ahead of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup.
The Indian women’s team will host South Africa led by skipper Laura Wolvaardt for a multi-format series from 16th June 2024. They will then travel to Sri Lanka for the Asia Cup which will be played in T20 format before the T20 World Cup in October.
(Quotes sourced from Espncricinfo).