India women’s cricket team captain Harmanpreet Kaur on Wednesday said last year’s ODI World Cup crown at home gave the side much-needed confidence and self-belief to win more titles anywhere in the world. India defeated South Africa in Navi Mumbai to win their maiden ICC title in November last year, and that achievement has instilled belief in the side to repeat the feat in the Women’s T20 World Cup, to be staged in the United Kingdom from June 12 to July 5. “Look, I believe that in any field, you have to do something special, you have to win a title. Only then do you get recognition. Otherwise, it feels like all the hard work goes to waste,” Harmanpreet said on the sidelines of the naming ceremony of a stand in her honour at the Omaxe Stadium in Dwarka.
“Not just our team, but all the women cricketers before us have put in immense effort, often even spending from their own pockets. So, winning a title was very important. And after achieving that, the response we are getting from Indian fans, the media, and everyone else is a very big thing for us.”
Talking about the huge expectations from fans to repeat the feat in this year’s T20 World Cup, the skipper said, “We’ll try our best (to win the T20 World Cup). The last World Cup gave us confidence, and now we have the belief that we can win the World Cup anywhere in the world.”
India recently toured Australia for a multi-format series, which included three T20Is, as many ODIs, and a one-off pink-ball Test.
India lost the series 4-12 on points, but according to Harmanpreet, the tour was a big learning experience.
“Such a multi-format series should happen because it gives you a lot of challenges. After every week, you have to play a different format, so I think this is a totally different experience,” she said.
“As cricketers, we have never gone through such an experience. Earlier, we mostly played either T20s or ODIs, but playing all three formats together was a bit challenging.”
The multi-format series started with the T20Is, which India won 2-1, before losing the ODI rubber 0-3 and the lone Test.
Harmanpreet said it was an emotional moment for her to see a stand being dedicated to her at the multi-sport facility.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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