U-19 team’s victory provides inspiration to senior players for T20 World Cup: Harmanpreet Kaur | Cricket News

NEW DELHI: Hailing Team India’s victory at the just-concluded U-19 T20 World Cup, Indian senior women’s team skipper Harmanpreet Kaur feels motivated and says it provides inspiration to the senior players for the upcoming ICC Women’s T20 World Cup starting on February 10 in South Africa.
Last edition’s runners-up, India will open their campaign against arch-rivals Pakistan on February 12.
“The Under-19 team’s victory provides added inspiration. Winning any world title is huge and one will always remember this one since it was the inaugural edition of the championship. I congratulate the team for the historic victory and hope we can emulate them in the senior event,” Harmanpreet wrote in a column for ICC.

Remembering their last outing at the Women’s T20 World Cup, which was watched by 86,174 spectators at MCG, Harmanpreet said, “That match, played on International Women’s Day three years ago, was a huge moment for women’s sport worldwide, as the iconic venue filled up for the Australia versus India match with fervour.”
“Our last match of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup – the 2020 final at the MCG – was watched by 86,174 spectators! That’s inspiration enough as we prepare to begin our campaign this time.”
“I still get goosebumps remembering that match as I think of my earlier years on the circuit and realise the kind of progress women’s cricket has made. I have played in all the T20 World Cups so far – in fact I debuted in the format at the inaugural edition in 2009 – and have seen the pace of the game surge like anything,” Harmanpreet wrote further.

Harmanpreet reckons this year’s tournament in South Africa will be ultra-competitive. Though Australia go into the tournament as favourites, there is very little separating other teams, promising close matches and high-class performances.
India have made the final of ICC senior women’s global events three times – the 50-over World Cups of 2005 and 2017 being the other occasions – and are hungry for that elusive title as they go to South Africa with high hopes and the confidence of having an outfit that can beat any team on its day.
“We have senior players as well as young guns like Shafali Verma and Richa Ghosh, who are fresh from the Indian team’s victory at the Under-19 World Cup, play an attractive brand of cricket and now also have enough experience of top-class cricket. We have depth in batting and enough variety in bowling with Renuka Singh stepping up well in the pace department to do what is required against top teams,” added Harmanpreet.
“We have been preparing well too. We won the Asia Cup and silver in the Commonwealth Games in recent months. A home series against Australia in December further gave us the opportunity to test ourselves and try our combinations against a top side.”
“Though we lost the series 4-1, there were enough thrills in the series for the thousands who thronged the Mumbai stadiums. The attendance in those matches also reflected the growing attention the women’s game has been able to attract in recent times,” said the Indian skipper
The support for women’s cricket by the International Cricket Council (ICC) and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has been amazing over the years and the impending Women’s IPL is surely going to take the game to the next level in India.