Harmanpreet & co. have trained extensively in the days leading up to the Women's T20 World Cup, which begins today in the UAE. India's first challenge will be against New Zealand on Friday...
A team with an aura of invincibility, a few dark horses, an emerging talent and fading stars form the narrative of the ICC Women's World Cup, which gets underway in the UAE on Thursday.
Six-time champions Australia have won the previous three editions of the tournament and with a core that has mostly been retained, they are undoubtedly the team to beat. Sri Lanka with their spin strength, England with their enviable lineup and South Africa are contenders along with India, who are chasing their maiden title.
In the run-up to the showpiece event, while most teams were getting game time, the Indians stayed off competition. In fact, the time gap between their last match and their latest is two months. After relinquishing their Asia Cup title to Sri Lanka on July 28, Harmanpreet Kaur and her girls played their next competitive match on Sept 29.
While the gap between the matches is jarring, NCA head VVS Laxman, who was a part of the pre-World Cup camp here, outlined the team's readiness for the big show.
Speaking about the World Cup camps, Laxman explained, "It was very productive. Amol (Muzumdar) planned it in such a way that in the first phase, the focus was on the mental and physical aspects of the game. After a break, the focus shifted to the skill and the tactical aspects."
On match practice, Laxman revealed, "It was not restricted to nets. They also played five matches where Amol created different situations and challenges."
While the camps may have been beneficial for India, who start their campaign against New Zealand on Friday, the two practice games have been a good marker of their ability to get into the groove in testing conditions.
Although India won the games with a margin of 20 and 28 runs against West Indian and South Africa respectively, the batters looked out of depth on more than one occasion. In both matches, the top order comprising Shafali Verma, Smriti Mandhana and Harmanpreet Kaur failed to fire. Also, they were done in by spin in the Asia Cup final and will hope to buck the trend in hot and humid conditions.
If India will look to go the distance, their top order must come good and hope or complement the efforts expected out of the spin department, led by Deepti Sharma and Radha Yadav with Sajana Sajeevan, Asha Sobhana, Shreyanka Patil, and Tanuja Kanwer (reserve) in the mix.
The pace trio of Pooja Vastrakar, Renuka Singh and Arundhati Reddy will also have a key role to play.
While Australia are a dominant force, it will be exciting to see how England fare, considering the depth of their resources. Also, Sri Lanka are packed with talent and are well-prepared. Although they took the qualifier route, they've played 19 T20Is this year and lost just four. Vishmi Gunaratne, Harshita Samarawickrama and Kavisha Dilhari are the players to watch.
Given the familiarity-level of the competitors, who sometimes play on the same team in franchise cricket, the tournament is expected to be that much more competitive.
