The ICC Women’s T20 World Cup is just around the corner and the teams are currently gearing up for the tournament by playing a couple of warm-up matches. India’s first warm-up game against Pakistan was called-off due to wet outfield and will now be playing West Indies on February 18 before they start their World Cup campaign.
Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur will be hoping for a performance like the ICC World Cup 2017 and get her hands on the prestigious trophy. Speaking on the tournament, Harmanpreet Kaur revealed that the team is showing great promise day after day and will go into the tournament with positive intent.
Kaur further added that it is going to be really big for us and the whole country if we win the upcoming ICC tournament. She also noted that she was pleasantly surprised to see the reaction and support the whole team got during the 2017 World Cup.
“Our team is growing day by day, everyone is looking so positive. It’s going to be very big if we win, I was very surprised at all the reactions from 2017,” Harmanpreet Kaur said.
The Women in Blue have never managed to reach the finals of the T20 World Cup till now. They reached the semi-final stage thrice – 2009, 2010, and 2018 – but failed to advance through the finals. In 2009, New Zealand defeated India by 52 runs while Australia beat the Women in Blue by 7 wickets in 2010.
In 2018, England won the semi-final encounter by eight wickets against India.
The Indian team will be starting their campaign against Australia on February 21. Speaking about the clash, Jemimah Rodrigues earlier said the Aussie side is one of the toughest teams out there and if you have to beat them, then you have to give your 200% on the field. She also feels that the Indian team has to be mentally strong to beat a team like Australia.
“Aussies are naturally dominating and if you hold back a bit, they will sit on your head and not let you come up. So if you want to face them or do well against them, you got to bring your best game. You got to raise your standards,” added Rodrigues while speaking about facing the Australian in their opening game.
The side led by Meg Lanning is coming into this tournament after winning 9 out of their last 11 T20I games.
