‘Come support us’: Indian women’s cricket team all set for ICC Women's T20 World Cup

The Indian Women’s Cricket Team hopes cricket fans in Australia will come out and support the team as they embark on their World Cup journey in Australia.

Arundhati Reddy of India is congratulated by her teammates after taking a catch to dismiss Alyssa Healy of Australia during the ODI Tri-Series Cricket match Source: AAP Image/Scott Barbour

Highlights

• The young squad will miss the veterans Mithali Raj and Jhulan Goswami who have retired from the format
• 16-year-old Shafali Verma is the youngest Indian woman to play in a T20 international
• Besides being an all-rounder in cricket, Jemimah Rodrigues has also played U-17 and U-19 hockey

“My message is simple. Come support us,” India’s pace bowler Shikha Pandey told SBS Hindi as the team prepares to face the Australian Women’s team in their opening match on February 21, 2020.

Led by Harmanpreet Kaur, India’s 15-member squad for the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup includes star players like Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Richa Ghosh, Jemimah Rodrigues, Shikha Pandey and Taniya Bhatia among the rest.

“The tri-series has added to our preparations and we have been preparing for last 12-14 months, and we have tried various combinations which have worked and we are really looking forward to the world cup,” Taniya Bhatia, the wicket-keeper told SBS Hindi.

The team will play against Australia, Bangladesh, New Zealand and Sri Lanka at the group stage.

Source: Supplied

ICC hopes the ICC women’s T20 finals will be a sellout and aspires to fill up the entire Melbourne Cricket Ground for the finals on March 8, 2020, the International Women’s Day.

“With the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup now on our doorstep, it promises to be a nation-wide festival of music, dance, culture and world-class T20 cricket. The opening match will feature some of the best players in the world, and some terrific pre-match entertainment from local Australian artists, including Indian born Darren Harts.

“Matches are taking place all around the country and we encourage everyone to be part of the celebration,” ICC T20 World Cup Local Organising Committee CEO Nick Hockley said.

Source: SBS Hindi

Bharat Army, one of the largest cricket fan groups, has said their members look forward to supporting the women’s team.

“We are Bharat Army and we always support Indian team wherever they play in the world and now for the T20 Cricket World Cup, all our Bharat Army members are really excited to support them,” Ajay Sindha, member of the Bharat Army said.

“We support [women’s] same as the men’s cricket team as cricket is religion for each and every Indian so it doesn’t matter whether it is men’s or women’s. We look forward to seeing the women’s win the title,” another Bharat Army member Brijraj Rathod told SBS Hindi.

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