Women's T20 series: India eves focussed on power-hitting, fielding

Veteran Mithali Raj fields during a practice session at the Brabourne Stadium yesterday. Pic/Suresh Karkera

With just nine months to go for the women's ICC World T20 to be held in the West Indies, India kick off their preparation with a T20 tri-series that begins at the Brabourne Stadium today.

While the team management is set to try out some new faces or look to give an extended run to potential players, power-hitting and fielding are the two major areas of focus that Harmanpreet Kaur & Co. will look to address in the forthcoming series that features Australia and England.

Harmanpreet Kaur

"Whenever you try to learn something, it takes time. We know we are not as powerful in our strength as compared to the foreign players. We are working on it daily. It has become a routine in our training sessions now. Everyone enjoyed playing the T20Is when we last played in South Africa. We played in the T20 format after a gap of 14 to 16 months. This is our second series and we are very positive despite losing the ODI series [to Australia] recently," Kaur said yesterday.

On the eve of today's opening clash against Australia, the Women in Blue were seen trying hard to clear the ropes at will during practice. After a three-hour net session, the Indian team then slugged it out under the harsh sun for some catching and fielding drills. "There are many areas that we need to improve in the T20 format. Fielding is a major area. In the recent ODI series, we gave away too many runs while fielding," Kaur added.

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