Mumbai [India]: Indian women’s ODI captain Mithali Raj on Tuesday said that her team, while playing in the T20I tri-series, would look to find their right combinations for the T20I World Cup in November later this year.
“It will be tough as both Australia and England are great teams and have won the T20 World Cup. But our team is looking to prepare for the T20I World Cup this year,” Raj told ANI.
“We will look to obtain confidence from these matches and overcome the areas we are lacking in to present a strong team in the World Cup,” Raj added.
Mithali Raj, the world’s highest run-getter in ODI, said that the series involving India, Australia and England will give the team an opportunity to groom their youngsters.
“The team is now preparing for the T20 World Cup this year and it is important to have our combinations right before it. And for that if we need to have some changes in the squad, irrespective of the result goes our way or not, it is important as we see the bigger picture preparing for the World Cup,” she told the reporters.
She said that ahead of the World Cup, the players need to be given specific roles so that they can work upon them.
Raj said, “We need to pick players and give them specific roles and they need to work on it. That’s what Australia has been doing since past couple of years, likewise we need to the same. We do have power, we have Harmanpreet Kaur, Veda Krishnamurthy, and now you see how Pooja Vastrakar is capable. Yes, we need to give her more opportunities to goom her into an all-rounder.”
Reflecting on the 3-0 ODI series whitewash from Australia, Raj said that they could not adapt to the home conditions after finishing the South Africa tour.
“I think, in every department they (Australia) did their best. We definitely lacked partnerships in the middle-order; (our) bowlers weren’t as disciplined as they were in South Africa. So, yes, things really didn’t go our way,” the 35-year-old batswoman said.
The T20 tri-series kicks off on Thursday at the Brabourne Stadium. India will then take on England on March 25. (ANI)