We have young side with match-winners: Harmanpreet Kaur

New Delhi: Ahead of the T20I World Cup in Australia, India women T20I skipper Harmanpreet Kaur on Thursday said the side has young players with match-winning skills.

“Our side is very young and all of them are match-winners. All of them have good sporting sense. We will keep the positive environment in the team so that they can give their 100 per cent. In the last few World Cups, we took on extra pressure on ourselves,” Kaur told reporters here.

Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, and Jemimah Rodrigues have played in the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) and are familiar with the Australian conditions.

“Three players from our side have played WBBL there so they know the conditions well and will share that with the teammates. The wickets will be good and high-scoring in Australia. I’m feeling very positive and excited about the World Cup,” Kaur said.

The India women’s team head coach Woorkeri Raman said: “They might be familiar with the conditions but this is the different platform, different tournament, and the pressure element is different. So, I think all these things put together will negate whatever advantage they might seemingly have.”

The shortest format skipper hailed the spinners in the team – Deepti Sharma, Poonam Yadav, Radha Yadav and Rajeshwari Gayakwad – and said are doing well.

🗣️🗣️ Captain @ImHarmanpreet & Coach @wvraman lay their 🔑 to success ahead of the tour Down Under #TeamIndia 🇮🇳🇦🇺 pic.twitter.com/qEpZxbsG64

— BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) January 23, 2020

“Spinners are doing quite well. I’m very excited about the spinners and what they are going to bring for the team. The message for the youngsters is that to play their natural game without any pressure,” Kaur added.

India T20 World Cup squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (captain), Smriti Mandhana (vice-captain), Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harleen Deol, Deepti Sharma, Veda Krishnamurthy, Richa Ghosh, Tania Bhatia (wicket-keeper), Poonam Yadav, Radha Yadav, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Shikha Pandey, Pooja Vastrakar, Arundhati Reddy.

India will lock horns with the defending champion and hosts Australia in the opening match of the tournament on February 21.