As Harmanpreet Kaur and company start their quest for a first Women’s T20 World Cup title in Birmingham, head coach Amol Muzumdar stated that the team’s long-awaited ODI World Cup victory last year has strengthened the belief that the team can finally cross the finish line in a global competition.
After finishing second in the 2005 and 2017 ODI editions as well as the 2020 Women’s T20 World Cup, India ended years of heartache by winning the 50-over World Cup at home last year.
Muzumdar stated that the team is now more confident ahead of Sunday’s campaign opener against Pakistan as a result of the historic victory.
“It’s a completely different format, isn’t it? I mean, yes, we won the World Cup but that was in the ODIs, this is a brand new format. So, I guess we are really looking forward for it,” PTI quoted Muzumdar as saying when asked if there is extra pressure on the team.
“One thing I can assure you that we would take a lot from that World Cup getting into this tournament because we know for a fact that we will cross the line.”
Muzumdar believes the Indian squad has acclimated well to the conditions during their more than three weeks in the UK, which included a three-match T20I series against England.
“As far as acclimatisation is concerned, we’ve had three weeks over here now. We came on 23rd of May and we’ve got used to it now.”
Muzumdar also praised Yastika Bhatia’s comeback after the wicketkeeper-batter was sidelined for the ODI World Cup the previous year due to a severe knee injury sustained during the team’s training camp in Visakhapatnam.
“I think it was very unfortunate that Yastika missed out on the previous World Cup. It was just on the last day, last minute, probably the last over that was bowled in that camp.”
After more than two years away, the left-hander has successfully returned to the T20I setup. She has performed admirably at No. 3, giving India a useful middle-order left-handed alternative.
“It was really unfortunate that in the last minute she had to miss out. It was a huge injury and the way she has come back, the way she has fought her way back in this team, it just tells you a little bit of an insight of how this team reacts to challenges. I think Yastika is a good example of that,” Muzumdar said.
Regarding India’s bowling capabilities, Muzumdar stated that although spin is still a traditional strength, the team is no longer entirely reliant on it.
“Definitely, it (spin) has been our biggest strength. But if you look at this team, we have got eight quality bowlers. Quality spin bowlers and quality seam bowlers. So we’ve got four and four. If you see the variety in this team, it’s really good.”
After Richa Ghosh halted a poor run with a half-century in the warm-up match against England, Muzumdar also predicted that the explosive batter will have a significant impact on the tournament.
“I’ll not deny this, that she had a little bit of a lean phase. But she’s a world-class player. We always had this talk around in the changing room that somebody as good and as talented as Richa, it will require a couple of hits out of the ground and it will all come back.
“So, I guess it happened in the last game. And I’m glad that we’re getting into the World Cup with Richa being in. She spent quality game time in the previous game,” he said.
“No doubt, she does a very great job for us at number six, number five. According to the situation, we get her in the game. So, yeah, Richa is a world-class player and she’s a matured cricketer.”
