Keeping in mind the ODI World Cup 2021 in mind, India’s T20I skipper Harmanpreet Kaur has pointed out that the improvements in fielding, fitness and fast bowling stocks are the major areas to work upon for the Women in Blue.
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Harmanpreet, who recently led India to the Women’s T20 World Cup final down under, also conceded that they are "five-six years behind" powerhouses Australia and England.
"Now the players are getting more aware about being fit and following the right daily routines," Kaur told Mumbai Mirror. "The things we have grasped in the last two-three years, England and Australia have been doing from long before."
Although Australia and England are some years ahead of India, Harmanpreet believes she and her fellow teammates are moving in the right direction.
"Definitely we are five-six years behind them in these aspects," she said. "But now girls have understood their responsibility towards being fit. Earlier there used to be a huge difference between a domestic player and what is expected at the international level. But now some 30 girls are given individual programme by the BCCI.
"So when one of them is picked for India, she is not clueless about what is expected of her. As we keep improving our domestic level, the performances at the international level will improve. That is why I said we are five-six years behind these teams because our domestic set-up is not as good as it should be."
The Women in Blue were outplayed in the Women’s T20 World Cup final against Southern Stars last month but they had a stellar campaign overall.
India had dominated their way through to the knock-outs, defeating hosts Australia, Bangladesh, New Zealand and Sri Lanka in Group A while their last-four clash against England was washed out.
As per Kaur, it's fitness and not skills which separate her side from the world-beaters like Australia and England.
"Just the fitness. In these two countries fitness is part of their culture. Unfortunately, in India we start these things late," Kaur told The Week. "For the last three years the girls have been working hard on fitness. It does not improve overnight, we need to work on it for longer durations. Earlier, we would come close to these teams and lose, but now we are winning matches against them. Skill-wise we are better batters and bowlers than these two countries."
