Former Indian cricketer Veda Krishnamurthy has stated that the Indian women’s cricket team will face significant pressure to perform well at the inaugural ICC Women’s Champions Trophy next year. She noted that the recent T20 World Cup performances have not favoured the Women in Blue.
Team India recently began their ‘Smriti Mandhana era’ with a 3-0 series sweep against Zimbabwe, concluding with a 92-run victory in the third T20 International match at Raipur on Tuesday. The ICC Women’s Champions Trophy will be held in India next year in the T20I format, and Team India is preparing with this tournament in mind.
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Speaking after the series win on the programme ‘Cricket Live’, Krishnamurthy said, “You want to dominate when you’re playing a series, and that’s exactly what I think Team India as a whole have done. We talk about convincing victories, and the last two games were just that. In the first game, you would say they were pushed, but eventually, it was still a convincing victory. A strong finish is always important, and it’s a good start to Smriti Mandhana’s full-time captaincy career. It is important that you play a certain brand of cricket. India have clearly shown that this is exactly how they want to play. It is good preparation going into the Champions Trophy. Three T20 games are done, with three more left before the big tournament. The last two T20 World Cups have not gone in India’s favour. So, there will be pressure on this Indian team to come out and perform well in the Champions Trophy.”
India reached the group stage in the last
India reached the group stage in the last two T20 World Cups in 2024 and 2026, with their best finish as runners-up in 2020, losing to Australia.
On former captain Harmanpreet Kaur’s impactful 91 not out off 41 balls in the Zimbabwe match, Krishnamurthy remarked on her continued importance in the batting line-up despite not being captain. She added, “I think that is exactly what is expected of her (her knock). Even though she’s not the captain now, she’s still a key batter India would want to have in the line-up, especially with the upcoming Champions Trophy campaign in Indian conditions. Having the experience of someone like Harman is important, and it’s important that she gets runs as well. So, it was good to see her back among the runs.”
Krishnamurthy also commented on Harmanpreet’s emotional post-match reaction, saying, “There’s a lot of passion when you’re playing cricket, and passion also brings emotion. Certain players have a tendency not to show it, but Harman is someone who’s shown those emotions in the past as well, whether it is on the field or during interviews. She is someone who wears her heart on her sleeve, someone who probably expresses a lot more than other players. Sometimes you cannot keep everything inside, and you feel good when you express yourself. Then you saw her on the field, smiling and laughing around. That is how Harman is.”
Regarding the improved consistency of Shafali Verma, who
Regarding the improved consistency of Shafali Verma, who scored a rapid 69 runs, Krishnamurthy said consistency had always been a subject of discussion and praised the young player’s potential. “Consistency was something that was always discussed around Shafali, and the way she has come back, she is starting to show a lot more of it across formats. She got out when she had 991 calendar runs in T20Is this year. We were hoping that she would get to a thousand, and you see the list, Laura Wolvaardt is behind her in second place, and Smriti Mandhana is in third position. The top three will be playing against each other in December. That series is going to be a good one. She is just 22 years old, but she has been here for a while. 2019 is when she made her debut. That is about seven years of international cricket, which is a lot of experience. I’m just looking at it and saying, probably another decade or even more than that of cricket is what we’ll see from her, and the kind of records she’s going to smash is going to be incredible to watch,” she added.
This year, Shafali has scored 991 runs in 27 T20I innings at an average of 39.64 and a strike rate close to 167. Her tally includes one century and nine fifties, with a best score of 100 not out. She holds the record for the most T20I runs by a woman in a calendar year and has delivered several crucial performances in India’s Asia Cup and Asian Games triumphs.
In the recent match, half-centuries from Harmanpreet (91* off 41 balls, including 10 fours and five sixes) and Shafali (69 off 37 balls, with six fours and five sixes) propelled India to 216 for 7. Nandani Sharma starred with figures of 3 for 24, restricting Zimbabwe to 124 for 7 despite notable contributions from Sharne Mayers (60 from 49 balls, including four boundaries and six sixes) and Beloved Biza (44 off 50 balls, with five fours).
Source: thenewsmill.com
