‘The women’s team are not…’ – Former India cricketer makes a bold statement ahead of Women’s 20-20 World Cup
Former India coach Ravi Shastri said that the Indian women’s team will be a force to reckon with in South Africa come the 20-20 World Cup. It must be noted that India played a tri-series in the Rainbow nation and made it to the final where they, unfortunately, lost against South Africa.
India did well and had a good campaign in West Indies where the World Cup was held in 2018 and also in the 2020 World Cup in Australia, where they reached the final, which had record attendance at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Shastri said that India can draw inspiration from the young U19 side who had lifted the 20-20 World title in South Africa recently.
“I’ve always said the biggest thing that’s going to happen in women’s cricket, and the women’s team is (not) that far away,”. “I’ve kept saying it for the last six, eight months (India’s women’s team) are not that far away from winning a big one. “They’ve threatened, they’ve reached finals, they’ve lost some close games, but they’re there.” He said to Sanjana Ganesan on the Review show.
The 83 World Cup win opened up a pandoras box – Ravi Shastri
The former India cricketer compared what happened to cricket in India with the 1983 World Cup win and how it changed the landscape of cricket in India. He said something similar could happen to the women’s team led by Harmanpreet Kaur if they win the World Cup in South Africa. India did well at the Commonwealth Games in England and brought home a silver medal.
“I know what happened in ‘83, when we won the World Cup, it opened up a Pandora’s Box,” “I see that happening with the women’s cricket. Now, under-19 is just a step. It was fabulous to see the way the young girls played, and won. And, especially the final, to beat a team like England, bowl them out for 68 and then do the job was an outstanding achievement and that spurred a lot of young cricketers to take the sport.”
He shared his views on Women’s cricket and said that it is on the ascendancy with the U-19 20-20 World Cup win and also the start of the Women’s Indian T20 League. The auction for the tournament will be held tomorrow and also some of the teams have finalized the coaching staff as well. The likes of Jhulan Goswami and Mithali Raj are involved in mentorship roles with Mumbai and Gujarat.
