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Harman, Deepti are potential leaders: Raj
Indian women’s cricket team skipper Mithali Raj on Thursday picked her deputy Harmanpreet Kaur and youngsters Smriti Mandhana and Deepti Sharma to succeed her when she decides to quit the game.
By
migrator
migrator
New Delhi
Mithali, who recently led the Indian eves to the final of the ICC World Cup — which it lost to host England in the summit clash at Lord’s — admitted that she still has two-three years of cricket left in her and added that the next focus is on the ICC Women’s World T20 in the West Indies next year.
“As a player grows and gains experience at the international level, each one of them becomes a leader in their own respect,” MIthali said.
“Harmanpreet is there now, there might be Deepti Sharma, Smriti Mandhana…you never know whose destiny takes them, but this bunch of players has the ability to take up the challenge whenever it’s given to them,” Mithali told reporters here during the BCCI’s felicitation ceremony here. Commenting on her future at the international cricket, the 34-year-old skipper said: “As a player you want to continue but it all boils down to fitness and form.
No one knows what happens in the next four years as the next 50-over World Cup is in 2021. But the focus now is on preparing for the ICC World T20 next year. I still feel that I have 2-3 years to serve the team and for this country.”
Mithali, who has played just 10 Tests in her 18-year long international career, also stressed the importance of playing the traditional format, which she termed as “ultimate test” for any cricketer. “A Test match is the ultimate challenge for every cricketer as it tests a player’s temperament, skills, and endurance level. It is very important to promote women’s Test matches, she said.
Deepti wants to add carrom ball to her armoury
All-rounder Deepti Sharma, fresh from her brilliant performance in the just concluded ICC Women’s World Cup, is now focused on developing a ‘carrom’ ball, mostly used by the likes of Ravichandran Ashwin and Sri Lanka’s Ajantha Mendis.
The 19-year-old revealed her brief cricketing journey from the smaller grounds in Agra to playing a World Cup final in front of a jampacked Lord’s -- the Mecca of cricket. “I used to accompany my brother to his academy in Agra. One day I was sitting on the stairs watching his match and suddenly the ball came to me. I threw back the ball and it directly hit the stumps. There were a few girls practising on the ground and among them was (veteran India batswoman) Hemlata Kala, who enquired about me. She immediately asked my brother to bring me along to the ground every day, saying: ‘She has a lot of potential, you have no idea of her talent.’ From there the journey started,” she said. Deepti likes calling herself a batting all-rounder but of late has turned her focus to improving her off-spin bowling, with the addition of the variations. “I keep watching Ashwin’s videos and try to learn from his variations. I haven’t met him yet but am a fan of the variations he uses in Test cricket,” Deepti said. “I tried the carrom ball at the nets but haven’t used it in a match situation as yet. It is necessary to have variations in your bowling as most of the non-Asian batswomen find it tough to handle quality spin bowling. I am a batting all-rounder, generally open the innings. But I keep myself flexible to bat at any position where my captain wants me to. It all depends on the situation of the game,” she added. Deepti picked out the win against hosts England in the opening match as a confidence booster for the Women in Blue.
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