"India will be very dominant in this World Cup": Veda Krishnamurthy

Earlier today, the Indian women's team departed for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as the ICC Women's T20 World Cup starts from October 3 onwards.

Speaking exclusively with Star Sports, Krishnamurthy shared her insights on India's squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup and said that adjusting to the conditions will be "crucial".

She added that Harmanpreet Kaur's side will rely heavily on spinners, especially on Deepti Sharma.

"Adjusting to the conditions is crucial when playing in the UAE, especially with this squad. Since the last tournament was in Bangladesh, not many changes have been made. It's a very spin-heavy team, and we rely heavily on spinners, particularly Deepti Sharma, who has been a key bowler for us. With the fast bowlers, especially Pooja Vastrakar coming in with the semi-new ball and hitting those hard lengths, it's worked well for India. It's all about how they start, and they need Renuka to fire, regardless of the conditions. If they manage that, I think India will be very dominant in this World Cup," Krishnamurthy was quoted in a release from Star Sports as saying.

In the last edition of the T20 World Cup in 2022, India again came close to making history, storming into the semi-finals. However, Australia proved to be a stumbling block once again in the final four.

In the lead-up to the T20 World Cup, India has had mixed results. They lost the T20I series against Australia and England earlier this year, but Harmanpreet's side bounced back with two consecutive series wins against Bangladesh.

In July, India's T20I series against South Africa ended in a draw. In the Asia Cup 2024, India lost the final to Sri Lanka, who remained unbeaten throughout the tournament.

India will begin their T20 World Cup campaign against New Zealand on October 4 at Dubai International Stadium. Before the tournament, India will play warm-up matches against the West Indies and South Africa.

In the T20 World Cup last year, Australia defeated South Africa at home by 19 runs to win their sixth title. Meanwhile, India made it to the semifinals, losing to the Aussies by five runs.

Squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Smriti Mandhana (VC), Shafali Verma, Deepti Sharma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh (WK), Yastika Bhatia (WK), Pooja Vastrakar, Arundhati Reddy, Renuka Singh, Dayalan Hemalatha, Asha Sobhana, Radha Yadav, Shreyanka Patil, Sajana Sajeevan.

Travelling reserves: Uma Chetry (wk), Tanuja Kanwer, Saima Thakor.

Non-Travelling Reserves: Raghvi Bist, Priya Mishra. (ANI)