Mithali Raj says team focused on sealing India’s direct entry into 2021 ICC Women’s World Cup

Mithali Raj also touched upon the news of her retirement and playing Pakistan after Pulwama attacks.

Mithali Raj spoke on playing Pakistan in wake of Pulwama terror attacksAfter a brilliant showing in the ICC Women’s World Cup 2017, where the Indian team reached the finals at Lord’s; Indian women's ODI team skipper Mithali Raj has said that the team is dedicated to gain direct entry into the next edition of the World Cup in 2021.

Currently, the Indian team will face reigning World Cup champions England in the absence of injured Harmanpreet Kaur and Raj said that it would be a challenge to face them without Harmanpreet. The top four ranked teams in the ICC Women’s ODI team rankings till 2020 will gain direct entry into the 2021 World Cup.

"It's a very important series for us, being number three right now in the points table. Points are at stake and I definitely want the team to get a direct entry (into the next World Cup). It's important to get as many points as possible from the series," she said on the eve of the series.

Indian team beat England 2-1 in 2018, but Mithali says, "England is a formidable side, being the World Cup champions and they will come strongly at us. We should be playing a positive brand of cricket. They've got their senior players back into the squad, and we are without one of our senior players. But this series will also show how we meet this challenge. It will reflect the depth of our team."

Mithali also said that absence of Harmanpreet gives chance for youngsters to come good. Harmanpreet Kaur has been ruled out of the England series due to ankle injury | File Photo"She is one of the main players in the team for a long time, but it is also an opportunity for young players in the team to rise up and use the opportunity to step up and perform. Harman is not there because of injury. I should emphasize that we, as a batting unit, should take the (added) responsibility and whoever gets the opportunity should play that role," she added.

Mithali also talked about not playing Pakistan in wake of the Pulwama terrorist attack and said, "It's always been in our minds that we probably won't play Pakistan, and that's why, whatever matches we play against whoever, we should be going in by keeping in mind that we need those points."

India had defeated New Zealand 2-1 in the recent ODI series and Mithali said, "It was our first win on the New Zealand soil, so it feels great to win a series there, but to come home and play England is completely different. The conditions are different. We'll take a lot of positives and confidence from that series win, but our preparation and strategy differ from what it was in New Zealand."

The Indian captain said that the spinners will play an important role in the upcoming series against England.

A little bit of moisture will be there because most of the matches in India start at 9 am. But as the days progress it (wicket) will ease out. (Veteran pace bowler) Jhulan (Goswami) had done very well in New Zealand, supported by Shikha (Pandey) and Mansi (Joshi)," she said.

"I think spin will be the main factor for all the matches we play at home and that's one of the reasons why we produce the best spinners. If there is moisture the fast bowlers will come into play and in the second innings, there will be some slow turn. In New Zealand, they (Indian spinners) did very well and considering the slowness of the wickets, I hope they will do well in these conditions," she added.

"Jemimah (Rodrigues) and Smriti (Mandhana) gave us great starts in New Zealand and the middle order was not tested that much," she pointed out.

Mithali had this to say about her speculated retirement from T20s, "When it's the right time, I'll let you all know."

(PTI Inputs)

 
 

By Jatin Sharma - 21 Feb, 2019

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