New Delhi, Sep 26
Former Australia captain Lisa Sthalekar believes India’s chances of winning the upcoming Women’s T20 World Cup in the UAE are very high. She also feels a lot will hinge on their openers Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana giving India good starts in the competition happening from October 3-20.
At the World Cup, India are placed in Group A alongside defending champions Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The Harmanpreet Kaur-led side are targeting their first ever women's T20 World Cup title.
"So, obviously, I think Australia are going to be in the semifinals. They're the reigning champions. They're going for 4/4. England have been strong, though they played New Zealand twice. They lost against Ireland recently, though they didn't send their strongest side. But you get a sense that they're building nicely and they're taking a challenge.
"India, of course, will have the challenge led by Harmanpreet Kaur. I saw that she wrote an article on the ICC saying they were finalists in 2020 and that they've been semi-finalists for a long time. I think they've got every possibility (to change that), but I think they will be relying on their openers to get off to a good start, then they're all round this one.
"Like, if Pooja Vastrakar - she can stay fit and is on the path back, she'll be quite a handful for a lot of sides. So, India's chances are very high. I would expect them in the semi-finals position, if not the finals. I think they've got the power, depth, and decent bowlers. It's probably that 4-5-6-7 position - can they actually score at a good rate? I'll be fascinated to see if the openers and Jemimah Rodrigues can fire in the UAE.