New Delhi: In the last few years, India Women haven’t been impressive on the global stage as the “big event” hoodoo has stuck with them for a long time. They enter the 2024 Women’s T20 World Cup carrying the curse on their back and eyeing to break it by lifting the coveted ICC title. For this, the Indian players have undertaken a new regime as part of their training and strategy.
Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur said that the Indian players have been working on their mental strength for a long time, notifying one major aspect on which the new focus is targeted. The team is currently gearing up for the upcoming women’s T20 World Cup next month, scheduled in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). India are placed in Group A along with six-time winners and defending champions Australia, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and New Zealand.
In a conversation with Star Sports on Monday, Kaur revealed that the Indian players are working on their mental aspect to perform at their best in the crucial moments of the game, specifically the last overs. “We have been working on mental strength for a long time. The last 3-4 overs are the most crucial. T20 cricket is not a small format… at the end of the day, you are playing 40 overs,” Kaur said.
“In the last 4-5 overs, the team that is mentally strong wins the match. We have been focusing on this for a while. If we can remain mentally stable in those final five overs, we can execute what’s best for us. We are working on those aspects, and hopefully, we will overcome this hurdle in the tournament,” she added.
India Women’s hoodoo
The performances of India Women in summit clashes over the last few years have drawn criticism. The players perform extremely well in the group stage to head in to the knockout stage but fail when it matters the most. The team lost to Australia in the final by 85 runs. England had pipped the team by a mere nine runs during the 2017 ODI World Cup final.
Even in the Commonwealth Games 2022, Australia pulled off a win by nine runs to clinch the gold medal despite India’s heroics with the bat in the final game as the Women in Blue settled for a silver.
India will kick off their campaign against New Zealand on October 4 and will play a clash against arch-rivals Pakistan on October 6. They will take on Sri Lanka, whom they lost the 2024 women’s Asia Cup title to, on October 9. All three clashes will be played in Dubai while the final group stage game, which is against Australia, will be played in Sharjah on October 13.
Harmanpreet added that the team is filled with players coming from different Induan states which gives them an opportunity to learn further. She said that it feels good when there are so many different characters on the team and that they get to learn about their cultures. “I think you can only experience that in sports, not in any other career,” Kaur added.
India Women have ended at the wrong side in their crucial clashes over the past few years and to tackle this, Harmanpreet Kaur has revealed the team strategy that the players have already undertaken. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
