India captain Harmanpreet Kaur says ICC Women's T20 World Cup can revolutionalise the game

Harmanpreet Kaur, the 30-year-old captain of the Indian women cricket team, is currently leading the team in the Australia Women's T20 Tri Series Down Under which is being used to prepare for the 20-over format World Cup starting from February 21, 2020. According to the allrounder-captain only sometime back the par score in women's T20 cricket was in the region of 120 or 130 and any team putting up such a score was most likely to win the match.

Harmanpreet asserted that the Indian T20 team has transformed for the better in the last couple of years and she expects her side's spin attack to play a crucial role in Australia where the Women in Blue are playing in a tri series along with the host team and England. Harmanpreet pointed out that every team is now looking to post bigger scores and are confident of doing so

"It's that change in mindset that means performances are getting better across the board and the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2020 has the potential to revolutionise the game even further. If I look back two years, India's 50-over side was doing well and our T20 was struggling. But in the past two years, we have transformed as a T20 team and are very positive going to Australia. When you look at the other teams competing in the World Cup, they’re all looking in good shape ahead of the tournament," Harmanpreet said.

"All of the teams have strengths – but so do we. Our strength is spin. We’re always looking to find a way to integrate spinners into our team and even now, we’re assessing our plans and how we can exploit that strength. Our bowlers are always looking for the wicket-taking delivery and when we have our backs to the wall, they produce for us. We haven’t always managed to deliver on our potential as a team and winning games is always about how well you’re able to execute your skills," she asserted.

Thanking coach Woorkeri Venkat Raman, who represented the Indian men's team in 11 Tests and One-Day Internationals (ODIs), Harmanpreet credited him with helping the players to handle the pressure. "In recent series wins over South Africa and the West Indies, we played to our full potential and that helped us get positive results. If we give 100 per cent as a collective, results take care of themselves. Woorkeri Raman, our coach, plays a big role too. He was a very experienced player himself and now it’s great to have him working with us. He’s someone who always helps us keep calm in pressure situations and learn how to solve problems together out on the pitch. He is doing a very good job for us and we’re very happy to have him in the camp. His experience will help us in the World Cup."

"We went out to Australia earlier than a lot of teams and are in the midst of a tri-series with England and Australia, which will be a perfect platform for us. We will be familiar with the conditions over there and that will give us an extra boost to perform well. We’ll also be able to experiment with selection and we’ll look to find our best combination during that series. One thing is for sure – we won’t be afraid to give chances to newcomers. We have brought Richa Ghosh into our squad recently on the back of her great performances in the Women's Senior T20 Challenger Trophy. We have to find out what our best team is and those games will give us a chance to decide that before the World Cup. Each and every member of the squad has a part to play and we need to give our all to win any game. I’m just hoping I can step up and win some games for my team when they need me," she added.

Australia is hosting the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2020, which is the seventh edition of the tournament, from February 21 to March 8, 2020. There tournament will feature 10 teams - Australia, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, West Indies, Bangladesh and Thailand divided into Group A and B.

India are placed in Group A along with  Australia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Group B has England, Pakistan, South Africa, West Indies and Thailand.