Meg Lanning believes that T20 World Cup In less than 15 days, the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup will flag off in Australia, on 21st Feb the world cup opener will be played between the defending hosts and Indian women’s cricket team.
Australian Skipper says this world cup will be a game-changer with so much hype and expectations build around it- “This tournament can be a real turning point for women’s sport around the world, it’s a really big event, there’s a lot of talk around it — certainly more hype than I’ve ever experienced before — so hopefully that’s a sign of everyone jumping on board and getting involved,” Lanning wrote in her column for the ICC. ” Hopefully we can look back on this tournament as a real moment from which women’s sport takes off” – she added.
Lanning says her side dreams of defending the title and plays the final on 8th march in MCH- “Having taken in an incredible atmosphere at a sold-out MCG, the chance to lead my country in front of a full house would be an honor to experience,” she said.
“There are a few hurdles to get over before we can think about the MCG, but to play there in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Final, on International Women’s Day, would be amazing for all of us. We’re very aware of what we need to do to get there, there’s a lot of hard work involved and we need to make sure we start off well in that first game against India and go from there. There are no guarantees in this sport,” she added.
The 27-year-old said it’s a huge honor for her to lead the team in front of home fans. “It’s a huge honor to be able to lead this team, it’s a great group of players and people who put in a lot of hard work together, we’ve got a group who make my job really easy, I’m the captain of this side but when I go out to bat, I’m just a batter looking to contribute for my team. I look to score as many runs as I can every time I go out there and hope I can contribute some big scores and performances for this team” Lanning said.
Taking about the pressure of playing in front of the home crowd, Lanning said, “World Cups carry pressure and expectation for any team and being at home doesn’t make it any different for us or any other side. We want to make sure that we’re enjoying the moment and embracing everything that comes with it. We’re not daunted by that; we want to take it on and focus on what we can control. So far, we’ve done that well and we’ve put ourselves in a good position to carry that on.”
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