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Indian women's team head coach Amol Muzumdar on Wednesday emphasised the necessity of the team focusing on themselves rather than the accomplishments and threats provided by their opponents.
After clinching a historic Test victory over Australia, Team India are now gearing up to take on Alyssa Healy-led side in the white-ball leg with the first ODI of a three-match series starting on Thursday at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. They will first face Australia in three ODIs on December 28, December 30 and January 2. All matches will be played at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium. Looking ahead to the Women's T20 World Cup in Bangladesh in September-October 2024, followed by the 50-over World Cup in India, Muzumdar emphasised the team's focus on the 'larger vision.' This strategic focus stems from the team's proclivity to falter in key situations, necessitating a concentrated effort to address and overcome such issues. "I will now shy away from saying that we have not had a look at the bigger picture. But at the same time, do not lose focus on the current happenings," Muzumdar said in a pre-match press conference at the Wankhede Stadium. "Yes, they (Australia) are a good team. They have been doing well in the past, but the message is very clear to the team - we would look inwards. We would look to improve on every given opportunity on every single day. If we can do that, I will be happy," he said. Muzumdar stated that he and captain Harmanpreet Kaur have had multiple on- and off-field chats about how to move this team ahead, which has also helped melt the ice between the two. "Honesty is one thing I have always stressed on. (We) had honest conversations and that must have broken the ice. You need to ask Harman about it. I have been very honest in my cricketing discussions that we have had, the suggestions have been welcomed at the same time," he said. "We have had a lot of discussions off the field regarding how we have to get it right and sometimes the decisions come correct... one-odd decision must have broken the ice," Muzumdar added. Indian women's team head coach stated his team is not complaining about playing 11 matches across all forms against two opponents in 35 days. Talking about the schedule, Mazumdar said, "The scheduling has been fantastic. The T20Is followed by the Test against England and we were into red-ball cricket and we have carried that into the Australia series." "Yes, it is a packed schedule, but all the players are really looking forward for every opportunity they get to be on the ground," Muzumdar added. ODI Squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Verma, Deepti Sharma, Yastika Bhatia (wk), Richa Ghosh (wk), Amanjot Kaur, Shreyanka Patil, Mannat Kashyap, Saika Ishaque, Renuka Singh Thakur, Titas Sadhu, Pooja Vastrakar, Sneh Rana and Harleen Deol. (ANI)
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