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India all-rounder Deepti Sharma says morale remains high in her side as they attempt to bounce back from consecutive losses at the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup when they take on England in Indore on Sunday, as per the ICC website.
The tournament hosts made a superb start to the Women's World Cup by collecting back-to-back victories over Sri Lanka and Pakistan, but defeats against South Africa and Australia have brought India back to the pack as the race for semi-final spots intensifies. The upcoming contest with England on Sunday looms as a crucial clash for India as they try to boost their chances of reaching the knockout stages, and Deepti said her side remains focused on the job and with a positive mindset ahead of the match. "I think even though we've lost two matches, our morale is still very good," Deepti noted. Our first two matches went quite well, so we always go in with a positive mindset. As a team, we focus more on what we've done well." "And as you mentioned about bowling, in every match, different players take on different roles. Bowlers are stepping up, whether it's in the Powerplay or slog overs. Everyone is contributing," she added. The contest against England will be India's first hitout in seven days, with Deepti admitting the break from competitive fixtures had helped the players focus on the remaining games and utilise specific training sessions that would match their upcoming opponents. "The best part was getting this break," Deepti said. All our practice sessions were very specific, we practised against particular bowlers, both left-arm and off-spinners. We worked as much as possible, keeping in mind the conditions and the opponents. As a team and as a bowling unit, we focused on the areas we needed to improve." "Even in our last away series against England, we had a lot of positives and takeaways -- and we won there too. It's all about how you perform as a team in each match, and I believe we're just one good game away from bouncing back stronger," she added. A win for England against India will see them become the third team to qualify for the semi-finals, and head coach Charlotte Edwards is looking forward to the match. "We've been lucky that we've played a lot against India over the last 12 months and obviously in the English summer, so we've got lots of experience playing against India," she said. "But this is, I guess, a one-off game now, isn't it, in India in a World Cup. A massive game tomorrow (Sunday), which we're all looking forward to, and we'll be preparing like any other game. We know the threats of India, but equally, there's some, we've got some wonderful players within our group, so I'm sure it's set up for a fantastic game here tomorrow," she concluded. (ANI)
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