Women’s cricket will stand alone in itself in future: Mithali Raj

Nikhil Deshpande
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Ahead of the warm-up match against Ireland, Indian women’s cricket team captain Mithali Raj on Wednesday seemed confident of her team’s chances of making it into the semi-final of the 2016 ICC World T20. Raj also expressed confidence that women’s cricket will stand alone in the future.

Indian skipper Mithali Raj feels that ICC’s idea of conducting both men’s and women’s World T20 tournaments in parallel will help women’s cricket in the long run.

“I think [the women’s tournament] has garnered a lot of people’s attention, thanks to the double-headers and television. I’m also quite confident women’s cricket will stand alone as a brand in itself in the future,” Mithali Raj was quoted as saying by the Hindu.

Mithali also welcomed the Nike advertisement, which featured both men’s and women’s players, and called it as “one of those first moves by a team sponsor to cover women’s cricket in a big way.”

Indian eves will take on Ireland in their first warm-up match on Thursday ahead of the World T20, and Mithali seemed confident of her team’s chances in the tournament.

“I don’t see why we shouldn’t be qualifying for the semifinals. We had a very successful T20 series against Australia and Sri Lanka. The team is confident following the wins. With the kind of form, the team is in right now, I’m confident. Beyond that, I’ll think later,” Mithali said.

The Indian skipper also pointed out fielding as one of the big factors behind the historic series victory over Australia back in January.

“One of the big changes we saw in the Australia series was in fielding. There has been a remarkable improvement in the way the girls have responded. I can assure you that you will see good fielding in the World Cup,” the 33-year old pointed out.

When asked about the title contenders for the World T20, Mithali chose the defending champions Australia as the favourites.

“Though we have beaten them at home in Australian conditions, the World Cup is a different scenario. I definitely feel they are tough contenders,” the Indian skipper said before signing off.  

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