Follow UsWho will be India’s No.3 in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024?
It will be Harmanpreet Kaur, says India Women’s head coach Amol Muzumdar.
The right-hander batted at No.3 in both warm-up games and managed scores of 10 and 1, but that was never going to affect the management’s decision. In fact, Muzumdar made it clear that the decision was made before travelling to the UAE for the showpiece event.
"Absolutely. Not just the warm-up games, but we had already decided back in India, in the camps that happened before we set off for the World Cup" ESPNcricinfo quoted Muzumdar as saying before India’s first game of the T20WC against New Zealand on October 4 (Friday).
"We had a lovely camp in Bangalore. We had decided there itself. These pre-World Cup matches absolutely stamped that for us. Is it a surprise? No. If you can guess, you can go through the scorecards and you will find it."
When Yastika Bhatia made her return from a knee injury, it felt like the left-hander would take the No.3 spot. If not her, one of Dayalan Hemalatha or Sajeevan Sajana. Well, even Jemimah Rodrigues looked like an option, but the 24-year-old has been doing well at No.5 of late.
The Women in Blue, however, have decided to trust the skipper. Harmanpreet has batted at No.3 on 18 occasions, scoring 298 runs at an average of 21.28 and a strike rate of 99. She has clearly produced much better numbers at Nos.4 and 5 but seems like the decision has already been made and India are going to stick with it.
Talking about India’s squad strength, Muzumdar said: "I think it's been a collective effort not just from the Indian team or the Indian contingent but also from the NCA. We've been completely in sync with the coaches over there who went on the India A tour to Australia. (We've) had constant chats, feedback were given post the tour as well.
"I think we're trying to formalise a lot of stuff. Apart from the Indian contingent as I said, the India A (set-up) is also very important for us so that we get a lot of players, and the bench strength is stronger. We've seen the results.
"Some of the players that have come into the Indian squad here at the World Cup are the product of what WPL is. Of course, not undermining the first-class (domestic) cricketers back home. But WPL has given us a strong base to find players."
Muzumdar also spoke about how much the players have worked on their fitness and how it will help them improve their fielding, which has been a massive concern for India in recent years. "We've worked upon it. Thoroughly gone deeper into it and tried to absolutely work individually, first in regard to the volume as far as fielding is concerned.
“And then in fitness, we've paid attention to each individual to take their fitness levels to the next level. So, I think we've put in that effort. The effort has been there. I think you'll definitely see the results."
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