Indian Women cricket team head coach W.V. Raman feels that team India is all set for the World T20 challenge that awaits them in Australia. Speaking in a press conference before their departure to the land of kangaroos, he vouched for his young and enthusiastic team.
“We are covering all other bases. This is a young team which is perhaps one of the best. They are enthusiastic, positive and focused. Click To Tweet That’s very important,” said the former India all-rounder.
“That will definitely help us psychologically. At the start of last season, we did not do well enough in the few games. After that, the unit settled down. Each one of the players had a good hit, they are all in good nick and they have also worked on their skills, which means you do have a fair bit of sense of security and confidence going into this tournament” he added,.
Women in Blue are currently preparing for the T20 World Cup which will be held Down Under in Australia from February 21 to 8 March. Before the showpiece tournament begins, India will play a tri-series involving England and Australia starting January 31, and coach W.V. Raman feels that those matches will help the team gain valuable practice ahead of the ICC event.
“We will get a few good hard, tough games that will give us a lot of pointers as to what needs to be done in a way we are. And even if we come worse off in the tournament, that’s also good because the only way after that is up, so any which way you look at it, the tri-series is going be very, very helpful for us” he said.
Also, Head coach Raman doesn’t believe that players of other countries regularly featuring in franchise leagues gain any definitive advantage in T20 World Cup as playing for the international tournament is a completely different ball game.
“Playing franchise cricket is one thing and playing an international tournament, where your country features, is a different game altogether. They may be familiar with the conditions, but this is a different platform. The pressure element is different,” Raman said at the pre-departure press conference.
Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana and Veda Krishnamurthy are the only Indian cricketers to have played in the competitive Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) while Deepti Sharma and Jemimah Rodrigues featured in the Kia Super League (KSL) last year. On the other hand, a number of internationals on other sides regularly feature in popular T20 events across the globe.
The current Indian team also has teenagers Shafali Verma (15) and Richa Ghosh (16) but Raman was all praise for the fearless brand of cricket the young crop brings to the table.
“In today’s era, age on either side is just a number. It’s about the talent that there is what they can do on what they can bring to the table as far as the requirements of team is concerned. So I don’t think we should necessarily focus on the age part of it.”
“If we’re talking about somebody like a Shafali, who is 15-years old, we all have heard of the adage saying, young cubs know no fear. So, this is a brand of cricket that we look to play and it is a format where people need to be positive,” he said.
“So, along those lines, we need a lot more people with fresh minds and with a lot of positivity with no fear at all. I think that’ll be a big advantage and they complement the more experienced predators like Smriti, Harman, and Veda. So, this is a good blend I think,” he said.
Team India is ready for a fiery contest with the giants of the cricketing world namely Australia and England. The tri-series begins January 31 in Canberra, .
The women’s T20 World Cup will be played in Australia from February 21 to March 8. India will take on Australia, Bangladesh, New Zealand, and Sri Lanka in the Group stage.
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