28-year-old Indian women’s leg-spinner Poonam Yadav was one of the best bowlers in the recently played ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2020 in Australia, where the Women in Blue reached the finals for the first time.
The team has gone into the summit clash unbeaten in the whole league stages and then had a rain washout against England in the semis. However, the Australian team proved to be too much for them in the finals, as they were overwhelmed by the occasion and came up short by 85 runs.
Women's T20WC 2020: Poonam reveals how Harmanpreet's rebuke stirred her up in the tournament
Poonam Yadav picked 10 wickets in the tournament in five matches and was the joint second-most wicket-taker in the tournament. She had an interview with the Times of India and shared some of the tidbits from her career and outing in the ICC event in Australia.
The leggie picked 4/19 in the opening match against Australia bamboozling batswomen with her googlies. Talking about her bewildering deliveries, Poonam said, “I have been working on the googly for three-four years. I first tried it out against Sri Lanka in 2017. Australia is a very good side. They read the bowlers well. I was concerned that they could read and hit me. I wanted the googly to be quicker and more accurate. I worked on these aspects. Earlier a batter got more time to play my deliveries on the backfoot.”
Speaking on her practice routine, Yadav mentioned,” When I practice, I have a plan in mind every day. For instance, I only bowl googly one day. Similarly, I aim at a particular stump on a certain day. The idea is to keep improving day by day, be perfect in what you do.”
Poonam also said that the Indian team just had one poor game, unfortunately, it was the finals against Australia. She also mentioned that Indian players are mentally tough, given the difficult situations they face in daily lives. But on the final’s day, none of the players took the responsibility to win the match and hence the heartbreaking result.
She also batted for a Women’s IPL tournament, which she thinks will help the players cope with pressure. She said,” The first happened in 2018. Last year, there were three teams. It was quite good. I think we should have more teams, more matches. It is a great platform for young players. Such tournaments prepare players for pressure situations. “
(TOI inputs)
