The Indian Women’s team secured a 5-0 victory against Bangladesh Women last month and now prepping for the all-format series against South Africa Women. With the T20 World Cup just four months away, the upcoming series against South Africa will help them settle down with their combination ahead of the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka.
The Indian eves have also had multiple concentrated camps in the last few months, with the bowlers training at the National Cricket Academy facilities in Bengaluru while the batters have had a long training camp at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai. Speaking about the overall preparation and how it sits with the broader objective of the T20 World Cup, India’s head coach Amol Muzumdar stated that continuity is very important in the few months leading up to the mega event in October.
"The continuity is very important in the few months leading up to the World Cup. This series, the format that we are playing is ODI format, then the Test match, then the last one is T20. It is a very well-scheduled series and we go into the Asia Cup, which again is T20s,” Muzumdar said in a press conference in Bengaluru.
"By then, I think we should be ready for the World Cup. Then we have a layoff of about seven and a half weeks before we head off to Bangladesh. It is a very well-thought-out series and really looking forward to it."
India have been placed in Group A of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024, alongside Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka - and all of their matches will be played in Sylhet. Incidentally, India also played their five-match series against Bangladesh at the same venue, helping them acclimatize to the conditions.
"We have had a fantastic preparation in the last eight weeks," Muzumdar said. "We went to Bangladesh and had the desired result; 5-0, we won the T20 series. We also practiced over there, in the same ground where we would be playing the World Cup. We've had a couple of camps before this series.
“We had a split camp. The bowler's camp was held at NCA here in Bengaluru and the batter's camp was held in Navi Mumbai. It was a concentrated camp and we had the fruitful desired results for the camp."
Fielding has always been a concerning situation for India over the years, but Muzumdar assured that it is getting better at a fast place. "When I took over last December, we had said that fielding and fitness have been the cornerstone and we have been driving that message to the group. They have responded really nicely to that. Fielding is a work in progress and we are working very hard towards it and trust me, you will see some results out of it,” Muzumdar added.
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