27 September,2024 12:18 PM IST | Mumbai | Subodh Mayure
India women`s team captain Harmanpreet Kaur and head coach Amol Muzumdar during a press conference at the Wankhede Stadium on Tuesday (Pic: Ashish Raje)
India will start their Women's T20 World Cup campaign against New Zealand in Dubai on October 4. However, skipper Harmanpreet Kaur is yet to decide on whom to bank on - spinners or pacers - during the tournament which will be played in Dubai and Sharjah. The India skipper is well aware of the dew factor.
The Indian women's team, who will be eyeing their maiden ICC trophy in the ninth edition, comprises left-arm spinner Radha Yadav, leg-spinner Asha Sobhana, off-spinner Shreyanka Patil and off-spin bowling all-rounders Deepti Sharma and Harmanpreet, while Pooja Vastrakar, Renuka Singh Thakur and Arundhati Reddy are pace bowling options.
When mid-day.com asked the India skipper during the team's pre-departure press conference at the Wankhede Stadium on Tuesday, whether she will bank on spinners during the high pressure tournament, she said: "Look, we have most of the games in the night. So at night, dew plays a big, big role. We have good spinners. And at the same time, we have [pacers] Pooja and Renuka, who's doing really well. So I think when dew is the factor, that time you have to see who your best bowler is. And accordingly, we will just go there and see."
While team's head coach Amol Muzumdar said the heat factor plays a big part. "I think the conditions [in UAE] would be the same [as India]. As I said, humidity will play a part over there. There's no doubt about it. We are going to the month of September. So it will be a lot of heat over there, hot and humid. We do have three games at Dubai and then one game at Sharjah. So, we'll have to really go there, feel the pitch, and then decide how and which bowlers and what combination we need to play," explained Muzumdar.
