I hope we have selectors in due course of time: Harmanpreet Kaur | Cricket News – Times of India

Harmanpreet Kaur. (TOI Photo)

MUMBAI: A major criticism against the BCCI when it comes to women’s cricket is that there are not even national selectors in place since the last eight months, once Hemlata Kala and Co quit their post in January. The captain of the India women’s team Harmanpreet Kaur hopes that a set of national selectors for the women’s team are in place “in due course of time.”
“While it is important to have selectors, I hope we will have them in due course of time,” Harmanpreet tells TOI in an interview.
The tendency of the India women’s team to lose in the knockout games – they lost in the 50-over final in 2017, the T20 World Cup semis in 2018, and then in the final of the same tournament earlier this year – had sparked an interesting remark from previous women’s chief selector Kala, who felt that the Indian girls fail to handle the pressure of big finals.
Harmanpreet, defends her team on this front. “I don’t agree with the statement. I feel the women’s game has grown tremendously over the last few years and we showed great character and resilience to reach the final. It has only motivated us to go one better next time,” says Harmanpreet, who along with batsman Suresh Raina was on Wednesday appointed as the global brand ambassador of WTF Sports on Wednesday.
She stresses that her team was looking to end its jinx of losing finals next year in New Zealand in the 50-over World Cup. “We would want to go one better and win it next year. We have been performing well as a team at global tournaments and we have to continue to play to our strengths and believe in ourselves,” she says.
There was plenty of social media backlash against the BCCI after it failed to send the women’s team to England for a tri-series in the wake of Covid-19. The India skipper, though, defends the move. “While it was an opportunity for us to resume playing again, it is also important to keep in mind the situation we all are in right now. It was the right decision,” she asserts.
The 31-year-old is obviously pleased with the announcement of the Women’s T20 challenge by the BCCI. “Considering the three-team tournament is being seen as step towards a full-fledged women’s IPL, it is a good move,” she says.
“I’m excited about the tournament because this is the first time we’ll be playing in Dubai. I had questions like how would be the wickets be there. As a batter, we need to think about these things. We need to play on our strengths, because if you don’t play to your strengths, then your natural game doesn’t come out. I hope that we grab this opportunity. I hope we get to entertain everybody,” she chirps.
She does foresee a women’s IPL two years down the line or sometime not too far in the future. “Yes, why not? The Board and the players have worked hard over the years on bringing this idea into life,” she shoots back. The Australian girls are upset that they can’t participate because of the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) being on at that time. “It is unfortunate that we find ourselves in such a situation. The respective cricket boards would obviously look towards growing the sport in their respective countries. I hope we can look towards playing in the tournament soon,” she feels.
She is full of praise for BCCI president and former India captain Sourav Ganguly when it comes to his stance on women’s cricket in India. “Sourav sir is considering every opportunity for us and whatever he is doing for the women’s cricket is remarkable,” she compliments.
She thinks that India’s preparations are on track for the women’s World Cup in February next year. “While we did miss lot of action during the last four-five months, the South Africa tour and the ‘Women’s T20 Challenge’ puts us on the right track leading up to the World Cup,” she feels.
Her team members are finding their own way to cope with the lockdown? “Each one is finding their own ways to cope up in a good way. We do engage in calls and discuss about each other’s routines and well-being. Everyone is productively investing time and doing good work which will help them give results on the field once cricket resumes,” she says.
She admitted tough the lockdown was a drawback, women cricketers have kept them themselves physically fit which will help them when women’s cricket resume normally after the lockdown. “However good touch that you may be in, after a long break, you develop self-doubts. This is where mental strength comes in. If you’re mentally strong and feel that you’ve been doing these things for the last decade, then I’m not going to give up despite the long break. Initially, I may be scared to catch an injury, however, one of the advantages of the lockdown has been that we’ve worked a lot on our strength, worked a lot in gym sessions. So those things are going to help us on the field. If we hadn’t done anything and begun playing suddenly, it would have been a bit of a problem. However, we’ve tried a lot to keep ourselves physically fit in this period, so that when we start playing, our body doesn’t get affected so much,” Harmanpreet explains.
She has an interesting suggestion for the ICC to ponder. “You should get 12 runs for a six. You train to develop that extra strength, so there should be extra runs for a six,” she says.