Women’s T20 World Cup: Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur happy to ‘tick all boxes’ on preparation front

Harmanpreet Kaur leads India's Women's T20 World Cup campaign with a strong team, aiming to overcome past near misses.

The feeling of near misses has haunted Harmanpreet Kaur for the long but the Indian captain feels that her team has been able to tick all the boxes in its bid to cross the line as it starts its Women's T20 World Cup campaign in Bangladesh from October 3-20.

Since the tournament’s inception in 2009, India have managed to reach the final only once — in 2020 when they lost to nemesis Australia. India have also played Women’s ODI World Cup final in 2017. Harmanpreet has been a part of both teams and led in the 2020 T20 World Cup.

"This is the best team we are going forward with. The players have been playing together for a long time. For us we came so close last time and lost in semis (2023).

"We have ticked all the boxes in terms of preparation compared to the small things were not there maybe in earlier editions," said Harmanpreet at the pre-departure press conference for the T20 World Cup beginning October 3.

India have not had game time since end of July when they surprisingly finished runners-up to Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup.

They had an extensive preparatory camp at the NCA where the players spent a lot of time on fitness and fielding, areas where the team has been found wanting in the past.

The conference was also attended by head coach Muzumdar and chief selector Neetu David also made a rare appearance.