“The men’s team has truly inspired us,” Harmanpreet Kaur, on passing over the final hurdle in the coming T20 World Cup

With the Women’s T20 World Cup rapidly approaching, Indian captain Harmanpreet Kaur is bringing her team back together with a winning mindset modelled after that of their male teammates.

India’s hopes of winning their first-ever T20 World Cup may be fuelled by Kaur’s leadership, as the competition is scheduled to get underway in the United Arab Emirates in October. The Indian men’s cricket team won the T20 World Cup in June, snapping a 17-year drought. The women’s team, who have not yet won a T20 World Cup trophy, are now more motivated as a result of their triumph. The closest they got to winning the trophy was when they placed second in Australia in 2020. Kaur conveyed her admiration for the recent victory of the men’s squad.

“The men’s team’s victory in this year’s T20 World Cup has greatly inspired us. They won some difficult matches and put forth a lot of effort to earn this prize. We must understand how they approached these games and how they kept their body language consistent for such contests. We are currently preparing for our World Cup campaign while travelling down the same path. At a Delhi event, Harmanpreet stated, “The team is working really hard, and our attempt will be to give our country and fans another opportunity to celebrate this year.”

We are putting in a lot of effort to meet and exceed those standards: Harmanpreet Kaur

In recent years, the women’s squad has been dangerously near to reaching the world stage. By nine runs in the final, they lost and thus missed out on the 2017 ODI World Cup. They advanced to the final of the T20 World Cup in 2020, and they won a silver medal in the Commonwealth Games in 2022. The right-hand hitter realised the particular demands of competing in a World Cup.

It’s a tournament like the World Cup where every team prepares differently. Therefore, no club should be undervalued and no team should be overvalued. There is a particular kind of pressure for bilateral series, and for World Cups, there is pressure in addition to fan expectations and hopes. We have been hosting camps where all of the players are working really hard, and we are working really hard to live up to those expectations. Additionally, we have corrected the errors from the previous instance. We’re prepared now and have an optimistic outlook,” she continued.

Also Read: India releases the 2024 Women’s T20 World Cup team

Notably, India has been assigned to Group A, which also includes the reigning champions Australia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan. After pivotal games against their regional opponents, their campaign begins on October 4 against the Kiwis.

India squad for Women’s T20 World Cup

Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Yastika Bhatia* (wk), Shafali Verma, Deepti Sharma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh (wk), Pooja Vastrakar, Arundhati Reddy, Renuka Singh, D Hemalatha, Asha Sobhana, Radha Yadav, Shreyanka Patil*, Sajeevan Sajana