Harmanpreet Kaur will lead India in the showpiece tournament next month.
Ahead of the Women's T20 World Cup 2024, India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur highlighted the need of mental strength and how it helps a team execute its plans.
Last month, the ICC decided to relocate the Women’s T20 World Cup to UAE due to the political turmoil in Bangladesh. It will take place across the two venues – Dubai and Sharjah – from 3 to 20 October.
In 2020, India made it to the final but lost to Meg Lanning’s Australia by 85 runs at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). Last time around in 2023, the Women in Blue made their way through to the semis, but lost to the Aussies by five runs in Cape Town.
Harmanpreet said India are working on their mental strength for a long time. She also stated that T20s are not a small format, and the last 3-4 overs are very crucial.
"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. 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 5 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," Harmanpreet was quoted in a release by Star Sports.
India, slotted in Group A along with Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, have already announced their 15-member squad for the showpiece tournament.
Harmanpreet Kaur will lead the side and she will be assisted by vice-captain Smriti Mandhana, who is expected to open the batting with Shafali Verma. Dayalan Hemalatha is another top-order option in the squad.
Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, and Richa Ghosh are also part of the batting line-up. Richa is the designated wicketkeeper in the squad along with Yastika Bhatia.
Renuka Singh, Pooja Vastrakar, Deepti Sharma, Radha Yadav, Asha Sobhana, Sajana Sajeevan, and Shreyanka Patil feature in the squad as bowling options.
India will begin their campaign against New Zealand on October 4, while the arch-rivals Pakistan clash is scheduled for October 6.
Squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Shafali Verma, Deepti Sharma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh (wk), Yastika Bhatia (wk), Pooja Vastrakar, Arundhati Reddy, Renuka Singh, Dayalan Hemalatha, Asha Sobhana, Radha Yadav, Shreyanka Patil, Sajana Sajeevan
Traveling reserves: Uma Chetry (wk), Tanuja Kanwer, Saima Thakor
Non-Travelling Reserves: Raghvi Bist, Priya Mishra.
(With ANI Inputs)