High chances of India to win T20 World Cup- Lisa Sthalekar
New Delhi| Former Australia captain Lisa Sthalekar believes India’s chances are too high to win the upcoming Women’s T20 World Cup to be held in the UAE. She also feels that a lot will depend on openers Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana to give a good start to India in this tournament which will be held from 3-20 October.
In the World Cup, India has been placed in Group A along with defending champions Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The Harmanpreet Kaur-led side are aiming to win their first Women’s T20 World Cup title.
“So obviously, I think Australia will reach the semi-finals. They are the defending champions. They’re going for 4/4. England have been strong, although they played New Zealand twice. They recently lost against Ireland, although they did not send their strongest team. But you think they’re getting well prepared and they’re taking on the challenge.
“India will, of course, face the challenge under the leadership of Harmanpreet Kaur. I noticed that she wrote an article on the ICC saying that they were finalists in 2020 and that they have been semi-finalists for a long time. I think they have every possibility (to change it), but I think they will depend on their openers for a good start, then they will win completely this time.
“For example, if Pooja Vastrakar – she can stay fit and is on the way back, then she can prove to be very difficult for many teams. Therefore, India’s prospects are very high. I would expect him to reach the semi-finals, if not the final. I think he has strength, depth and good bowlers. Maybe it’s a 4-5-6-7 situation – can they really score runs at a good rate? I would be interested to see if the opening batsman and Jemimah Rodrigues can perform well in the UAE. “Then the fourth team – I don’t think New Zealand will be there, based on what I’ve seen. South Africa, of course, was the finalist in 2023. They seemed to have a similar team, so they had to push.
“Never ignore the West Indies – if they play like a men’s team and play great tournaments, anything can be possible”, Lisa told IANS during a virtual conversation on ABC-International Development’s cricket commentary and Mojo programme.
Leesa, who won the 2010 and 2012 T20 World Cups as an all-rounder with the Australian team, will commentate at the upcoming tournament in the UAE. She explained how the unpredictability of T20 cricket makes him like the shortest format of the game. “Anything is possible. The best thing about T20 cricket compared to 50-year-old cricket is that one can play well on a day or one can bowl well. An example of this is Poonam Yadav, who played in the first match against Australia in 2020, taking perhaps 3 or 4 wickets (4/19). “He pretty much demolished the Australian middle order, so he didn’t score enough runs”. Therefore, anyone can get a chance for a day. Shafali, Smriti, Harman or other top-ranked players from India can score centuries in some matches by any means. So, that’s what I like about this format.
Lisa further explained the main tenet of the winning mentality of defending champions Australia, who have won the 2022 ODI World Cup victory and the Commonwealth Games T20 gold medal in the same year in addition to a hat-trick of T20 World Cup victories in 2018, 2020 and 2023. “Australia have won mainly because there is a mindset within the team that they can win from any position. For example, they were bowled out for 142 in the second match against New Zealand. New Zealand had scored 143 in the first game, they just needed to repeat it to win. Australia’s bowlers bowled in a tight line, and New Zealand lost by 29 runs in the end.
“So that team always has the confidence to win – you can’t expect it and you can’t train for it. It’s just about playing games of cricket and living in those situations and finding a way out. Most of those girls have experienced it and done it, so there is a real belief that no matter what happens and we are seeing Australia really moving forward compared to other countries.
