VVS Laxman and India women (Twitter)
The Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 is scheduled to commence on October 3 in the United Arab Emirates. India women have never won a T20 World Cup. They came close to owning the title but were outdone by Australia in the final of the 2020 edition. This will be the ninth edition and former India cricketer, VVS Laxman has said the intensity in the way the players are preparing is sky-high.
Laxman, who is also the Head of the BCCI Centre of Excellence, hosted the India women for their preparations for the marquee event at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru. With physical fitness, the players indulged in sessions with sports psychologist, Mughda Bawre, for mental training. Laxman highlighted the very aspect and noted that the players are leaving no stone unturned to clinch the coveted title.
Also Read – Sports psychologists’ sessions are really helping us: Harmanpreet Kaur
“The kind of commitment, dedication, and intensity with which they practice and prepare is unmatched. I am very proud of the way they prepare. It was a productive camp and (women’s team head coach) Amol (Muzumdar) had planned in such a manner that in the first phase of the camp he focused on the mental and physical aspects of the game,” said Laxman as quoted by Sportstar.
“Then there was a break and when they came back, they focused on the skill and the tactical aspect of the game. It was not only restricted to nets but they also played five matches where Amol created different situations, different kinds of challenges for the players,” he added.
India women will commence their campaign with the first game against New Zealand on October 4. They are placed in Group A along with six-time champions, Australia, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.
India Women’s Squad for T20 World Cup 2024:
Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana, Shefali Verma, Deepti Sharma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh, Yastika Bhatia (subject to fitness), Pooja Vastrakar, Arundhati Reddy, Renuka Singh Thakur, Dayalan Hemalatha, Asha Sobhana, Radha Yadav, Shreyanka Patil (subject to fitness), Sajana Sajeevan.
Traveling reserves: Uma Chetry (wk), Tanuja Kanwer, Saima Thakor
Non-travelling reserves: Raghvi Bist, Priya Mishra