NEWS
Follow UsIndia Women’s captain Harmanpreet Kaur has backed Shafali Verma to find her form back before next year’s ODI World Cup at home. The 20-year-old opener has only managed 118 runs in her last eight ODIs at an average of 14.12 and a strike rate of 81.3. As a result, she has been dropped for the three-match ODI series in Australia, starting on December 5 (Thursday).
"She (Shafali) is a very important player for us and has done exceptionally well for the country. We are looking forward to seeing her get back into her zone and perform well for the team," said Harmanpreet.
The Women in Blue recently defeated New Zealand 2-1 at home but don’t have a great record in Australia. India have only won seven of their 21 ODIs Down Under.
India are currently placed third in the 2022-25 ICC Women’s Championship but have already cemented their spot as the host nation for the 2025 World Cup. This series, however, will give them a clear reflection of where they stand against big opponents.
"It’s always a great feeling playing in Australia. We all love playing cricket here. We had two days of training and tried to get ourselves fit as soon as possible. Feeling good, everyone is looking in good shape," said Harmanpreet.
"ODI is a format where we all enjoy more than other formats. It's always something you're looking forward to. Especially, the upcoming World Cup is in India, and Australia are somebody who play really good cricket wherever they go. It's a great platform to go and play well against them.
"It's a very important series for us. We're all looking forward to winning this series. Whenever we play, we always look to win and this is the same for us. We just want to go out there and enjoy the cricket.”
Adding more, Harmanpreet said: "All the games are important for us, and we just want to go out there and try our combinations and see whoever is doing well and give them more opportunities. At the same time, upcoming players who are doing really well, we want to give them a chance.
“All the players who can do well in home conditions, we'll look to pick those players when we're playing the World Cup.”
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