India have made the final of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup and the veteran fast bowler and former India captain Jhulan Goswami feels they can win the title as well. She referred young Shafali Verma an exciting prospect and she has put her support behind the likes of Smriti Mandhana and skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, backing them to come up with flying colours soon.
Shafali Verma has been the find of the tournament who has scored 161 runs in four matches and is third on the list of the tournament’s highest run-getter. Her knocks of 46 against New Zealand and 47 against Sri Lanka helped India to the knockouts of the World Cup. Harmanpreet and Mandhana have scored just 68 runs together from eight innings but Goswami is certain that they will do well in the final.
“Shafali is an exciting player. The team management was right in giving her the licence to express herself. She has given India those cracking starts, making best use of the Powerplay. It’s great to watch her exquisite shots,” Goswami said.
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“They [Harmanpreet and Mandhana] both are brilliant cricketers. I have not seen Harman failing to score for this long, but that can happen to any player. I am sure she will bounce back. Even Smriti is due for a big one,” she added.
India reached the final of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup for the first time after their semifinal match against England was called off without a ball being bowled. Continuous rain in Sydney witnessed that. Since there are no reserve days, the winner of the match was decided by the virtue of finishing higher on the points table. In Group A, India finished as the table-toppers after winning all four matches.
“As far as I am concerned, reaching the semifinals in itself is an achievement and the team has done that by beating top sides like Australia and New Zealand. They should continue to play fearless cricket and go for the kill. India have handled pressure well so far. A lot will depend on how you execute your plan and definitely there will be the luck element, ” Jhulan Goswami added.
