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India’s skipper Harmanpreet Kaur wants to
“build” for the 2024 Women’s T20 World Cup by providing the new
members of the T20I squad with “as many opportunities as possible” to
establish themselves on the big stage. The team has begun preparations for the
competition. According to her, the selection process would ultimately include
both their contributions off the pitch and their on-field performances.
“Whichever player you play with, you will know
how they can contribute to the team just by looking at their body language and
the way they think about cricket,” Harmanpreet said ahead of the second
T20I against England in Mumbai. “Just like how there’s no surety about
anything in life, we also can’t be always sure about a player. At the same
time, it’s about how they improve by the day and how they help the team win,
all that is important. All that also plays a role in how many opportunities you
want to give a player.”
“In the team there are so many youngsters now who
have done well in domestic [cricket] and WPL. We’ve picked those who have done
well in T20s. We want to build this team. We have so many matches coming up. As
a captain, I want to build this team. The support staff is also balanced now.
Amol [Muzumdar, head coach] has so much experience as player and coach. When
all these things are sorted, you know that you just need to go out there and
play. As a captain, I have a lot of trust and belief. They are the best and
that’s why they are here. I want to give them as many opportunities as I can
because they are the best right now. I want them to do well for the
country.”
India lost heartbreakingly to Australia in a close
match in the semi-final of the T20 World Cup this year. In the semi-finals of
2018 and the final of 2020, they also came near. Now a well-known player
throughout the world—she was named one of Time Magazine’s 100 Next and the
BBC’s 100 Women this year—Harmanpreet is focused entirely on winning a World
Cup for her native India.
“I want this team to grow in a way that everyone
says that this is the best team,” she said. “For me winning a World
Cup is a dream and I’m just working towards that and that is the only reason I
requested BCCI to get a young team. These games are very important. England are
not going to give us anything easily. So we are putting ourselves under
pressure. We want to work hard towards that and I don’t count my personal
achievements to any level because I’m playing a team sport. If the team is
doing well I’m happy.
“At the same time, when you’re not feeling great,
you see people are you telling ‘you’ve done this and that’ to make you feel
good. For me, team performance and winning a World Cup for the country is very
important, and my aim is towards that. I just want us to stay together and grow
together and do something great for our country.”