Ahead of the crucial semi-final against Australia in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2023 in South Africa, Indian cricket team suffered a blow as skipper Harmanpreet Kaur and key player Pooja Vastrakar are likely to be unavailable for the semi-final due to illness, as per reports. In case if Kaur misses the match, opener Smriti Mandhana is expected to lead the side.
The Women in Blue advanced to the semi-final with three wins from four matches, their only loss coming against England. India’s three wins came against Pakistan, West Indies and Ireland.
Ahead of the semi-final, Kaur recalled what went wrong for the team against England – where India lost the contest by 11 runs.
“We started really well but in the middle overs, we did not bowl according to plan and gave away too many runs. That is where we lost the momentum. We were doing well with the bat but did not get the run rate that we were looking for and that is why we lost wickets,” Kaur said at the post-match presentation after the loss against England.
Sharing her views on one of India’s concerns, Kaur said the team cannot play too many dot balls in a tournament like the World Cup.
“World Cup games are always something where both the teams are always under pressure. I think these matches if 150 is on the board, you always [have] the upper hand. We are not putting too much pressure on ourselves. We are just going [out] there and understanding what conditions are there and just playing according to the situation. Dot balls are something which [are] already worrying us. In the next game, we would love to see some improvement in that area also,” Harmanpreet added.
India will take on Australia at Newlands, Cape Town in a much-awaited semi-final on Thursday.
