ICC Women's T20 World Cup | Very positive about our chances, says WV Raman

01/19/2020

Head coach WV Raman was extremely positive about his team's chances in the upcoming T20 World Cup Down Under which begins on February 21. The squad consists of exciting players like 15-year-old batter Shafali Verma and 16-year-old uncapped Richa Ghosh as India aim for their first title.

India are set to begin their T20 World Cup campaign on February 21 against Australia and coach WV Raman is quite confident about the chances of the Indian team and believed that they had the potential to go on and win the title. India had been knocked out in the semifinals of the last edition of the tournament in the West Indies against England and they will be looking to make amends this time around.

"I'm very positive about our girls' chances. I do not like to get into names. But, of course, I fancy their chances a lot," Raman said while launching his book ‘The Winning Sixer -- Leaders Lessons to Master'.

Raman spoke about the importance of emotional balance and the need to maintain composure when tough times were around and having the presence of mind to get out of that tough situation without panicking.

"The one thing they probably need is to strike an emotional balance. There would be sudden change in tempo in scorecards, it would induce emotions from both ends. if they can find a middle path it would enhance our chances," he said, reported Times of India.

15-year-old Shafali Verma had created a lot of headlines since the time she had made her debut and has formed a formidable opening partnership alongside Smriti Mandhana. Raman was very upbeat about Verma's performances in the past, comparing her to the great Virender Sehwag and believed that her form was crucial to India's chances in the tournament.

"She (Verma) has captured everybody's imagination. It's for her to find out. Sehwag also found out and he certainly changed the entire dynamics of batting. People started looking at 360 in a day. She will learn, just like (Virender) Sehwag and found out how to go about doing what they do. The good thing is that she has shown that she can perform at that level and she is a quick learner," he added.

Raman believed that with youngsters like Verma and Richa Ghosh around with the likes of Mandhana already having so much experience, the future of women's cricket in India is really bright.

"It's a young side, certainly gelling well. Give those girls three years time. They are going to dominate, I have no doubts," he concluded.