India Women Aim to Emulate Men’s T20 World Cup Triumph
India’s women’s cricket team, led by Harmanpreet Kaur, is drawing inspiration from the men’s team’s recent T20 World Cup triumph as they prepare for their own campaign in the UAE in October. The women’s team has yet to lift the T20 World Cup, coming close in 2020 when they finished as runners-up in Australia.
“We have been really inspired by the men’s team, the way they won the T20 World Cup this year,” Kaur said. “They worked really hard for this trophy and won some tough matches. We need to learn how they maintained their body language for such matches and how they approached such games.”
The women’s team has faced heartbreak in recent major tournaments, losing the ODI World Cup final in 2017, the T20 World Cup final in 2020, and the Commonwealth Games final in 2022, all by narrow margins. They also suffered a disappointing defeat to Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup last month.
However, Kaur is confident that her team has learned from their mistakes and is ready to challenge for the title in the UAE. “We are working extremely hard to live up to those expectations, we have been holding camps where all players are working hard. We have also worked on the mistakes we made the last time. Now we’re ready with a positive mindset.”
India is placed in Group A with Australia, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, and Pakistan for the upcoming T20 World Cup. Kaur acknowledges the pressure of facing these strong teams but emphasizes the importance of staying focused and playing to their potential.
“The World Cup is a kind of tournament for which all teams prepare differently,” Kaur said. “So no team can be taken lightly and similarly no team should be overestimated either. We are working extremely hard to live up to those expectations.”
India’s campaign will kick off on October 4 against New Zealand, before taking on Pakistan on October 6, Sri Lanka on October 9, and Australia on October 13. The top two teams from each group will advance to the semi-finals on October 17 and 18, with the final scheduled for October 20 in Dubai.
