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Mumbai: Indian women's team captain Mithali Raj is hopeful that her team will use the home conditions to good effect in their opening World Cup match against the West Indies.
“Some of their players are not keeping well and they still have to get acclimatised to the conditions that might help us and also the kind form we are in, I am sure the girls will put up a good show,” Mithali said at the press conference.
“I honestly feel if you have a flat track, it could be anybody's game. There will be lot of runs, it’s a batting track. Bowling needs to be tightened up and there should be disciplined bowling attack. The fielding aspect could crucial,” the captain said.
“The wicket will not change in either innings, but the fielding will play a crucial part. Last year, we toured West Indies, though we lost the one-dayers, they are a side who are developing every year. They have good players and hard hitters too,” she added.
Asked about the West Indies bowling attack, that features spinner Anisa Mohammed who claimed seven for 14 in the final of the ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifier in 2011 against Pakistan, Raj said, “Anisa has been consistent wicket-taker against India. She has always taken 2-3 wickets against India.
“I don’t think it is going to be a challenge because it goes down to how you have prepared yourself for the World Cup considering the bowlers you are going to face.”
On the advantages of being the hosts, Raj reiterated that the weather will be the only upper-hand they get compared to the other teams. “The only advantage that we would have (as host nation) is having better idea about the conditions. We hope to cash in on that. During the practice games, the wickets we saw were quite flat. It is very helpful to batsmen and the scores are also quite good like 250 and 300 plus.
“So, I think ICC has provided batting tracks, so that a lot of runs are scored in the tournament. The weather can be our only advantage. It is humid. Our players have got used to the conditions with the camps in Mumbai,” she said.
The Indian captain however didn’t want dwell on the weaknesses of her team. “I don't want to talk about weaknesses, because when we prepare for a tournament, we try to work on our concerned areas and improve our strengths. The preparations have gone well, for instance in Bangalore we had our first camp,” she said.
“We played matches against the boys team. The second camp was at Bombay. Preparations have gone well. I am happy the way the girls played the first two warm-up games. It looks like the team is very compact,” she said.
She further said that the openers were not clicking for the team, which was a problem but is satisfied with the efforts of Thirushkamini Murugesan and Poonam Raut in the warm-up matches.
“One thing I always felt was that India never had a good opening pair. That was a very big concern. This time we have Thirushkamini (Murugesan) who has made a comeback. In both the games (warm-up games) have done really well. They have given us a good start. That's a positive sign,” she added.
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