India will have their hopes high when the women's team begins their campaign at the T20 World Cup against New Zealand on Friday evening in Dubai. A brilliant effort by senior players like skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana and Deepti Sharma will be necessary to ensure that India start on a high against the Kiwis, who might be the underdogs in this tie but dangerous on their day.
Harmanpreet, who in all likelihood, will be appearing in her last T20 World Cup, has been witness to multiple near misses. She has played all eight editions of the tournament and has seen India miss out on the ultimate prize every time.
As has been in the past, this Indian line-up is rich in talent and just Australia have a well-oiled unit like this. While Australia remain India's biggest challenge, they first have to breach the Kiwi fort.
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India's near misses seem more a case of mental fragility at clutch moments and they tried to address that during a preparatory camp at the NCA with a few counselling sessions.
Such external measures can be of limited help in big tournaments, as it boils down to flawless execution of strategies on a given day and hence, India will have to put their best foot forward from Friday onwards.
In that context, India will not get a better opponent than New Zealand, which is not a fancied team like Australia. But India will need to be wary of the Kiwis and not get complacent.
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Our Dream11 Team For India vs New Zealand Women's T20 World Cup Match
Richa Ghosh, Suzie Bates, Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, Brooke Halliday, Amelia Kerr (c), Deepti Sharma (vc), Lea Tahuhu, Radha Yadav, Jess Kerr, Renuka Singh Thakur
India squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), Smriti Mandhana (vice-capt), Yastika Bhatia (wk), Shafali Verma, Deepti Sharma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh (wk), Pooja Vastrakar, Arundhati Reddy, Renuka Singh, D Hemalatha, Asha Sobhana, Radha Yadav, Shreyanka Patil, Sajeevan Sajana
New Zealand squad: Sophie Devine (capt), Suzie Bates, Eden Carson, Isabella Gaze (wk), Maddy Green, Brooke Halliday, Fran Jonas, Leigh Kasperek, Jess Kerr, Amelia Kerr, Rosemary Mair, Molly Penfold, Georgia Plimmer, Hannah Rowe, Lea Tahuhu