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Indian women’s team captain Harmanpreet Kaur has opened up about the team’s transition after the retirement of Mithali Raj. Kaur was talking in the press conference before the Sri Lanka tour where she opened up about how the dissemination of ideas between players would be easier as she wouldn’t be sharing leadership responsibilities with Raj in the two formats.
“I have been leading the T20 side for a long time and now this time, I am getting an opportunity to lead the ODI side as well. I think things will be easy because when two different captains were there, sometimes things were not easy because we both had different ideas," Kaur said.
“Now, it’s easy for me to tell them what I am expecting from them and things will be much easier for me and my teammates as well,” she added.
If we talk about Mithali di, I don’t think there is anyone who can take her place: Kaur
Harmanpreet then talked about the contribution of Mithali Raj toward women’s cricket in India. She then spoke about how no player can replace Raj and the team would need to come up with new combinations for filling the void.
“Mithali di has done great for women’s cricket. I don’t think there’s anyone who can fill her place. We are working hard on our team where we can create some combinations, but if we talk about Mithali di, I don’t think there is anyone who can take her place and we will always miss her in our dressing room,” she said.
We have a great combination and for us, it’s a good tour to start: Kaur
The 33-year-old also expressed how this tour in Sri Lanka would be the perfect opportunity for the team to build a new core for the future. Harmanpreet said, “If I talk about our team, I think we have a great combination and for us, it’s a good tour to start. First time, we will be playing without our seniors, so it is a great opportunity to build a team and we have done great preparation during the NCA camp.”
We are looking at consistency and winning habits: Powar
In the same press conference, India Coach Ramesh Powar also opened up about the team’s targets for the near future. “We are looking at consistency and winning habits. We all came together and we have already spoken to the BCCI and with V. V. S. Laxman - the head of cricket at NCA. We are trying to work on our fielding, fitness and take our players to the next level. That’s the immediate goal that we are trying to achieve,” Powar said.