India women’s T20I captain, Harmanpreet Kaur, stressed the importance of teamwork when it comes to winning championship such as the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup.
Further, Kaur, in a recent interview, went on to state that the blue brigade cannot afford to depend on the likes of Smriti Mandhana and herself, solely for clinching titles.
On eve of the tournament opener between the hosts and the defending champions, Australia and India, the hard-hitting middle-order batter highlighted the need for contributions from the entire team, on the basis of previous experiences.
“If you want to do well as a team, you need to come up together and do well for the side. Through past tournaments, we have learnt that you cannot depend on just one or two players to win the game for you,” the Indian captain told media on Thursday.
India reached the finals of the recently concluded Women’s tri-series by defeating Australia in a record run-chase.
Mandhana, yet again, was instrumental in the chase, after the fierce start provided by Shafali Varma. However, the team could not defeat the Australians in the finals, which led to them receiving a substantial amount of flak.
“If you want to win a big tournament like the World Cup, you have to come up as a team and that’s what we’re looking to do,” concluded the T20 skipper.
Meanwhile, India’s ODI and Test captain Mithali Raj, not included in India’s T20I plans, tagged Australia as favourites to win the tournament opener but also claimed that the Indian team is not a ‘pushover’.
Additionally, the highest run-getter in women’s cricket predicted a hard-fought encounter between the two teams.
“Australia go in as favourites, but India will be no pushover. They have some very talented players and I think it will be a very close, high-scoring game. Both teams have exciting players, particular in the batting units, and it will be a case of whoever can score the runs that their country need on the day,” penned down the 37-year-old in her column for ICC.
Having said that, Raj asserted that the Australian team holds a slight upper hand over the Indian team due to their glorious record in the tournament. The Aussie women have won the competition four times out of the six competitions held thus far.
“I do think Australia have the advantage because of their T20 record and have a slightly better chance of winning the first game against India,” concluded Raj
