"Team is working hard": India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur ahead of their Women's T20 World Cup opener
Oct 04, 2024
Dubai [UAE], October 4 : Indian women's cricket team captain Harmanpreet Kaur said the team is working hard for the ongoing ICC Women's T20 World Cup, being held in the United Arab Emirates from October 3 to 20.
The Women in Blue, who reached the semi-finals in the previous edition, are placed in Group A of the competition alongside Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.
India will begin their T20 World Cup campaign against New Zealand on October 4 at the Dubai International Stadium.
The No.3-ranked side in the world (India) take on the No.4-ranked New Zealand in what will prove critical to both teams' hopes of reaching the knockout stages.
India looked to be in good touch during the warm-up matches as they registered impressive victories over the West Indies and South Africa, while New Zealand split their games against the Proteas (win) and England (loss).
Both teams boast a strong top-order, with the likes of Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma from India matched by Kiwi counterparts Suzie Bates and Amelia Kerr.
India boast plenty of depth in their batting line-up, and both teams have some good bowling options, with spin likely to play a major part in deciding who comes out on top.
"Every day I'm going and learning and getting experience from every game. People around me are helping me, they are working hard to make our team go at that level where we want to be. I am happy with where our team is, how our team is working hard to achieve small things," India captain Harmanpreet Kaur said, as quoted by the ICC.
"We've got a number of young fast bowlers coming through. Their development has been massive the last 12 to 18 months so certainly looking forward to seeing what sort of bowlers they can turn into," New Zealand captain Sophie Devine said.
Squads:
India: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Deepti Sharma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh, Yastika Bhatia (subject to fitness), Pooja Vastrakar, Arundhati Reddy, Renuka Singh Thakur, Dayalan Hemalatha, Asha Sobhana, Radha Yadav, Shreyanka Patil (subject to fitness), Sajana Sajeevan. Travelling reserves: Uma Chetry (wk), Tanuja Kanwer, Saima Thakor. Non-Travelling reserves: Raghvi Bist, Priya Mishra
New Zealand: Sophie Devine (c), Suzie Bates, Eden Carson, Izzy Gaze, Maddy Green, Brooke Halliday, Fran Jonas, Leigh Kasperek, Melie Kerr, Jess Kerr, Rosemary Mair, Molly Penfold, Georgia Plimmer, Hannah Rowe, Lea Tahuhu.
