Harmanpreet Kaur said she hopes to take the “calmness” India’s players showed in Sylhet during their 5-0 series win over Bangladesh into the T20 World Cup when the team returns there after five months.
Unlike the last time the two teams met in Bangladesh in July 2023, when Harmanpreet was in the headlines for the wrong reasons after India won 2-1, there were some positives for India to take home. Barring the fifth T20I, where Bangladesh briefly entered the match, it has all been a one-sided contest.
“The composure shown by all the players in the series I would like to take with me to the World Cup,” Harmanpreet said after the 21-run win on Thursday. “There were some mistakes in our batting, bowling and fielding (today) but we know how we can improve and we will work hard over the next month.”
India’s captain getting out of the doldrums was one of the biggest takeaways of the series. Harmanpreet scored six single-digit scores in the white-ball series against Australia from December to January. Against Bangladesh, he scored 30 or more runs in three of the four innings and went undefeated in six innings. She scored over 30 twice in a series where apart from her, Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana also scored low. D Hemalata, who returned to the team after 15 months, showed off his masterpiece credentials in third place, where Jemimah Rodrigues, who missed the series due to back problems, recently took his place.
With the ball, Radha Yadav starred with 10 wickets in five matches and proved herself strongly in the comeback series after being left out of the national team for a poor performance in the T20 World Cup in February 2023. She was also the best player. This is the highest wicket-taking series in five outings. Deepti Sharma drew on her own experience to contain effectively, conceding less than five runs an over, while Shreyanka Patil managed to score with four wickets in three matches. Asha Sobhana, India’s oldest women’s T20I debutant at 33, performed reasonably well in her two matches, taking four wickets at an economy of 6.14.
Ahead of India’s first away series of the year, all these players have put in impressive performances in the Women’s Premier League and Harmanpreet was quick to attribute their performance in Sylhet to the confidence, drive and form they gained in the T20 tournament at home.
“The WPL has given our players a lot of confidence because the way many of us have played in the WPL, we have improved our game over that period and it is bringing results here. We just keep maintaining it. Just do the right thing and you will get results.”
India’s next assignment will be a multi-format series against South Africa at home in June-July. They will then travel to Sri Lanka for the Asia Cup, which will be played in T20 format before the T20 World Cup in October. Hamanpreet is hoping to play his “best cricket” when India returns to Sylhet for their World Cup opener against New Zealand on October 4.
“For sure this tournament will give us a lot of confidence. Playing in the given conditions will definitely help us. Whatever we learn here we can take with us to the World Cup. We will work really hard on it and “Hopefully, we will be able to do everything we can in the World Cup and I know our team has so much potential and I hope we can play our best cricket.”
