Mithali Raj & Co. look to get ready for ODI World Cup

PTI

Queenstown, February 8

The Indian women’s cricket team will get to fine tune its ODI World Cup preparations in a six-game limited-overs series against hosts New Zealand, beginning with the one-off T20 here tomorrow.

The T20 is scheduled ahead of the five ODIs starting February 12. Though the team will be looking for a confident start, it will also be approaching the 20-over game to get used to the conditions with the bigger goal of World Cup in mind.

To reduce the Covid threat, all games have been moved to the scenic Queenstown. The Indian squad arrived here after completing a 10-day quarantine in Christchurch.

ODI skipper Mithali Raj, who won’t be playing the T20, said all the six games will be used to figure out their core players who will feature in the ICC event in March-April.

“It is a different format. The team will be looking forward to winning the game. Having said that, this T20 will also give a fair idea about the wickets, how the players are coping with an open ground,” Raj said in a virtual media interaction referring to the windy conditions.

“We play to win but I look forward to giving some game-time to the core players. It is important they find their rhythm before the World Cup,” Mithali added.

T20 skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, who ended her lean patch with the bat with a successful Women’s Big Bash League, will look to lead from the front on Wednesday. —

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