World Cup qualification 'welcome news' amid COVID-19 crisis, says Mithali
Mithali Raj, captain of the Indian women's ODI team, says qualifying for the 2021 Women's World Cup eases the pressure on the players and allows them time to prepare.
Published : Apr 17, 2020 18:22 IST
India qualifying for the next year’s ICC World Cup (50 overs) should ease a lot of pressure on the players, says captain Mithali Raj.
In a chat with Sportstar on Friday, 37-year-old Mithali says that till now they (players) were not sure how to prepare for the World Cup qualifiers. “In that context, this is welcome news amidst the crisis because of Covid-19 that is threatening the entire world,” she said.
“Definitely, this is good news even though we are not sure when the conditions will improve and when any sporting activity resumes,” Mithali said.
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It may be mentioned here that India reached the 2017 World Cup final under Mithali’s captaincy and also beat West Indies in the last one-day series it played in November last year.
“Now, with the issue of World Cup settled, we can plan in a much better way the preparations as there will be enough time even if the situation improves, hopefully, by August this year,” the leading women's ODI run-getter said.
For someone who will be playing in her sixth World Cup and also expected to lead, Mithali says it is important for the team to regroup first, plan about the coaching camps with the specific objective of winning the trophy.
“Of course, a lot depends on the kind of international schedule women’s cricket can afford in the run-up to the World Cup. But, by all means, with India qualifying for the event, the focus can shift to other equally important subjects like planning to realise that one big dream - win the World Cup,” she says.
Interestingly, Mithali is also just hoping things would improve early to such an extent that the athletes at least can go to the stadia and start some training. “Obviously, the focus now cannot be on competitions but on resumption of minimum training sessions,” she concluded.