Break due to COVID-19 pandemic has affected India's preparation for the next year's Women's ODI World Cup in New Zealand, which is a real matter of concern for veterans Mithali Raj and Jhulan Goswami.
The BCCI was forced to cancel two major domestic events - Senior Women's One-Day knockout and Senior Women's One-Day Challenger - as the central government imposed an official 21-day lockdown in wake of the deadly outbreak.
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This, directly affecting players' preparation for the showpiece event, especially experienced members like Mithali and Jhulan, who are both nearing the end of their illustrious careers and need regular match practice to keep themselves attuned with the top-level game.
"The BCCI had scheduled the domestic T20 meets to prepare for the T20 World Cup in Australia. So a delayed start to the one-day meets was on cards, but unfortunately, the tournaments had to be cancelled," Jhulan told Cricbuzz from her residence.
"It was quite a setback as I was looking forward to playing some competitive cricket before our next international engagement."
Mithali echoed her teammate's sentiment, saying: "For Jhulan and I, who have limited ourselves to just one format, it's little difficult as we have been out of action for a while."
"Things are so gloomy all over the world. I can only pray for all those who are engaged in fighting this deadly virus. Tournaments can be rescheduled but lives cannot be sacrificed."
"The need of the hour is to keep ourselves safe," Jhulan agreed. "There will be many matches to play after we get past this phase."
Mithali, world's most capped ODI women's player, felt a touch irritated over living in isolation in the first week of the lockdown.
"It felt odd initially as I was not going to the ground at all. It took me some time to get used to this new way of life," she said.
Lack of preparation will hurt India's chances at the global qualifiers to be held in Sri Lanka in July, which the team will have to play if the ICC decides not to share points with Pakistan from a series that might not happen because of political tensions between the two countries.
"In case that doesn't happen, we will have to play the qualifiers, which are likely to be rescheduled. The bilateral series against England too looks uncertain at this stage. Our preparations will take a hit," Mithali said.
The Indian team currently stands at fourth position with 20 points from 18 games, including 10 wins and 8 losses, in the ICC Women's ODI Championship, which works as direct qualification pathway towards the World Cup.
The Women's ODI World Cup is due to be played from February 6 to March 7, 2021.
(Inputs from Cricbuzz)
