Mithali Raj Pleased With India's Buildup To The World Cup

Mithali Raj Pleased With India's Buildup To The World Cup

Gunning for their maiden World Cup title, the Indian women's cricket team has enjoyed a good run of form. They have won their last four ODI series, but more importantly, have had youngsters step up and gain confidence with good performances.

In the recently-concluded quadrangular series in South Africa, also involving Ireland and Zimbabwe, Punam Raut and Deepti Sharma put on a 320-run stand for the opening wicket - the first 300+ run stand in women's ODI. There were several other records that tumbled in the series. Deepti, who went on to muster a 160-ball 188 in that match, registered the second-highest score in women's cricket and the highest by an Indian. Veteran seamer Jhulan Goswami too, entered the record books by becoming the highest wicket-taker in women's ODIs.

"I am very happy with the way the team has shaped up before the World Cup," Mithali Raj, who recently led India in her 100th ODI as captain, told bcci.tv. "We know that the run-up to the World Cup is important. Every player would want to be in form and every team is looking into things that they would want to develop going into the tournament.

"It is a good thing because earlier we used to struggle in touring games to win series. Usually, we would win one odd game and lose the series, but now the team is winning even outside India, which is a big positive and it is commendable."

With the World Cup set to be telecast across the world, Raj felt that it was important for the team to showcase a high quality of cricket in order to promote the sport in the country.

"I definitely want this World Cup to be a very significant one in terms of the Indian Women's cricket team," Raj said. "It is an opportunity for us, a platform where most of the matches are televised or streamed so people are going to follow. It is our best chance to promote the sport in India.

"And if you are giving your best, and the way the team has been doing, I am sure a lot of people are now interested and will be tuning in to the game, so it is important that we present the best standard that we have."

Raj, however, asked the team to be cautious against peaking too early, an issue which India has faced in the past ICC events and eventually led to their exit.

"The one thing that troubles me is that the team should not peak early because that's what I felt in the earlier World Cups too; whether it was the T20 or the 2013 World Cup where the run-up was very good but as we entered the World Cup, we won and then started to lose and we didn't make a comeback."

Raj opined the league structure of the multi-team event will help the Indian team fare better, given that they can afford to progress through to the latter stages of the tournament even after having a one-off bad match. But with the opening game set to be played against England, Raj said the team would need to start strong and maintain the momentum.

"I would want the team to prepare mentally because that is something that will be tested in the World Cup," Raj added. "You are up against the best and under a lot of pressure, so it is important that the girls are tuning themselves mentally."

She also stressed on the importance of fielding and added: "The more you develop (in the fielding) department and the stronger you become, you will always have a chance to turn things around when you are fielding. Also, fine tune the roles that each one of us has to play."