ICC Women’s T20 World Cup: Harmanpreet Kaur-led Indian team leaves for UAE

The Indian women’s cricket team left for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Wednesday in preparation for the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, which is set to begin on October 3.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) shared photos of the players on their official X handle, featuring skipper Harmanpreet Kaur and star batters Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Varma, and Jemimah Rodrigues, along with pacers Renuka Thakur and Pooja Vastrakar. The post was captioned, “Ready Steady Raring To Go #TeamIndia | #T20WorldCup.”

In a pre-departure press conference held in Mumbai, Harmanpreet expressed her optimism about the team’s prospects, particularly regarding overcoming their previous challenge against Australia.

India made history in 2020 by reaching their first T20 World Cup final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, but they fell short against Australia. With renewed determination, the team aims to make a strong impact in the upcoming tournament.

“Look, their team is good, no doubt about that. They also know that India is one of the teams that can challenge them. I think that is a really positive sign. We know that whenever we play against them, we can beat them any day, any time. Winning the title after so many years is a great opportunity for us. They know we are a strong team. We just want to play good cricket and stay focused on what will help us beat them,” Harmanpreet said inthe press conference.

“If I talk about this team, we have a few players who have been playing for a long time and know their roles really well. I’m quite confident with this team, and I can say that, yes, it’s the best team going into the World Cup,” she added.

In the lead-up to the T20 World Cup 2024, India has had mixed results. They lost the T20I series against Australia and England earlier this year, but Harmanpreet’s side bounced back with two consecutive series wins against Bangladesh.

In July, India’s T20I series against South Africa ended in a draw. In the Asia Cup 2024, India lost the final to Sri Lanka, who remained unbeaten throughout the tournament.

India will begin their T20 World Cup campaign against New Zealand on October 4 at Dubai International Stadium. Before the tournament, India will play warm-up matches against the West Indies and South Africa.

Squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Shafali Verma, Deepti Sharma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh (wk), Yastika Bhatia (wk), Pooja Vastrakar, Arundhati Reddy, Renuka Singh, Dayalan Hemalatha, Asha Sobhana, Radha Yadav, Shreyanka Patil, Sajana Sajeevan

Travelling reserves: Uma Chetry (wk), Tanuja Kanwer, Saima Thakor
Non-Travelling Reserves: Raghvi Bist, Priya Mishra.