Follow UsIndia women's team's ODI captain Harmanpreet Kaur expects to set an example for the entire team by working on her fitness. Harmanpreet, who succeeded Mithali Raj as the ODI captain, said that she is relishing the role after leading the T20I side for the past three years.
"I have set some goals for us. Fitness is very important for a player. Skills wise we have coaches but I want to set an example where the players can see me and get motivated to become fit," Harmanpreet said ahead of the first ODI against Sri Lanka on Friday.
""Fitness and fielding are two things I want my team to improve. If these two aspects are covered then you are the best side," she added.
The 33-year old felt that her captaincy style is more about giving players freedom to express themselves and improve.
"After leading for a few years, things become easier. Right now, I don't feel the extra pressure, if I enjoy as captain the rest can also enjoy. I am enjoying more now as I feel I'm free to do want I want to do. When you give players freedom, you can improve more. That is my motive, to give the players freedom so they can express themselves," she said.
The Indian skipper also felt that Women's Test cricket has the potential to generate excitement among audiences. Recently, ICC chairman Greg Barclay expressed his doubts over the format's future which was met with much criticism from current and former players.
"In my career, I have only played 2-3 Tests. If we get more games then only we can decide if it has a future or not. As a player, we want to play Test cricket because we have grown up watching that format. You can't compare all the formats together, but Test cricket is a different format and has its own level of excitement," Harmanpreet said.
Harmanpreet also spoke about the importance of having a psychologist traveling with the team. The players had spoken about the help they received from Mugdha Bavare, who was the team psychologist during the ODI World Cup in New Zealand.
"Mughda ma'am has done a lot for us. During the World Cup she helped me a lot, we need people like her in the team, sadly she is not travelling with us this time," Harmanpreet said.
"In future we hope someone like her can always travel with us. We do have skill coaches but having someone you can talk to and share your thoughts, that is something you need in your life to clear those blocks. Skill is not going anywhere but when you feel mentally free then you can improve your game and give 100 per cent," she added.