Senior India batter Veda Krishnamurthy says her team seems destined to win the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in its maiden final appearance provided it keeps nerves in check against four-time champion Australia here on Sunday.
India will have the psychological advantage going into the final as it had stunned the defending champion by 17 runs in the tournament opener.
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“It’s all about destiny, and I’m a big believer in destiny. I feel like this is the way it was meant to be. There is a joke going around that this World Cup is made in such a way that it’s helping us, starting from the wickets to everything else,” she was quoted as saying by the tournament’s official website.
The Harmanpreet Kaur-led India reached the final on the basis of its unbeaten record in the tournament after its semifinal against England was washed out on Thursday.
Krishnamurthy, who was a part of the Indian team that finished runner-up to England in the 2017 Women’s ODI World Cup, understands the pain of missing out on a world title.
“Being in the final is just reward for the way we played in the group stages. There was an advantage to having won all our games with the weather not in our hands.”
The team’s first target of reaching the final having achieved, the 27-year-old player said the Indians now need to hold their nerves and remain focussed leading up to the big day on Sunday.
“We said the first aim was to get to the final and take it from there. We’ve crossed the first stage. We need to make sure we hold our nerves and we do what we need to do on the final day,” she said.
India’s recent rivalry with Australia has taken fascinating twists and turns, with Kaur’s outfit chasing down 173 in its recent tri-series and getting home by 17 runs in the T20 World Cup opener.
But all is not hunky-dory for Krishnamurthy on the personal front. Considered a great finisher, she has recovered from a series of single-digit scores in the tri-series to score 20 from 11 balls in a finishing role against Bangladesh.
Having amassed just 35 runs from four matches in the tournament so far, the Karnataka batter knows her role in the team.
“As an individual, the role given to me is very consistent in the last year. They’ve put effort in the last year to keep me there and I’ve been supported by every individual, not just one or two. The entire team, with all the support staff have shown faith in me,” she said.
“I know coming into the World Cup, I would play a crucial role to finish the innings well, which I felt I was unable to do in the last World Cup in the West Indies,” she added.
Krishnamurthy said specific roles have been set for every player of the squad and they all are trying to contribute as much as they can to help the team achieve its goal.
“I was very motivated to do my role and I’ve been working on that. It’s not just me, all 15 players involved know what their role is,” she said.
“I’m happy we’re all putting in efforts and executing our role properly. Even if it’s a smallish contribution of saving a couple of runs, it’s all panned out really well.”
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