"My motive as a leader is that all of us feel comfortable": Harmanpreet Kaur

Harmanapreet Kaur (Pic: File Pic)

Ahead of the Women's Asia Cup 2024, Team India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur opened up about the good atmosphere within the team and also stated that how she keeps all her teammates comfortable with each other.

India will play their opening match against arch-rivals Pakistan on July 19 at Dambulla.

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Speaking about her role as a captain of the team, Kaur told Star Sports that a good atmosphere within the dressing room, where everyone is comfortable and willing to share feelings with each other, betters the team's on-field performance.

"I feel like there should be such an atmosphere in the team that everyone enjoys each other's company, and can share their feelings with each other. And when the atmosphere is like that, the team's performance becomes good as well," said Harmanpreet Kaur.

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"So, my motive as a leader is that all of us feel comfortable with each other. And when you do not enjoy it, you feel like you have to go and play with players who you are not comfortable with. But if you feel like you are going to play with your friends and make the team win, that feeling is different. So we want an atmosphere where everyone is happy, supporting each other and the results are good as well. So I think as a leader that is my motive that everyone talks well to each other, enjoy each other's company and whenever there are hard times, they support each other. So those things are very important for me as a leader," she added.

Before entering the Asia Cup 2024, the Indian team enjoyed on-field success. They defeated South Africa by 3-0 in the ODI series, and the "Women in Blue" also won the one-off Test match against them. Also, the three-match T20I series between India and South Africa ended in a 1-1 draw with one match washed out due to rain.

Earlier, the Blues also defeated Bangladesh in the five-match T20I series by 5-0.

Between December last year and January, India also hosted Australia for a one-off Test, three ODIs and T20Is each, winning the Test match, but losing the ODI series 0-3 and the T20I series 1-2.

The victories in all these tournaments and series will play a vital role in India's T20 World Cup 2024 preparations. The mega event is scheduled to begin from October 3 to 20 in Bangladesh. Ahead of the World Cup, the side will eye their first ICC women's title.

India's Women's Asia Cup squad: India: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Shafali Verma, Deepti Sharma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh (wk), Uma Chetry (wk), Pooja Vastrakar, Arundhati Reddy, Renuka Singh Thakur, Dayalan Hemalatha, Asha Sobhana, Radha Yadav, Shreyanka Patil, Sajana Sajeevan. Travelling reserves: Shweta Sehrawat, Saika Ishaque, Tanuja Kanwer, Meghna Singh.

(With ANI Inputs)