Indian women have ability to win T20 World Cup: Niranjana

Chennai: Despite the recent loss to Sri Lanka in the Women’s Asia Cup final, former India fast bowler Niranjana Nagarajan remains positive about the team’s chances at the upcoming T20 World Cup. The showpiece event, scheduled to be held from October 3 to 20, has been shifted from Bangladesh to the United Arab Emirates due to the current political climate of the south Asian nation.“We should win the cup. Gone are the days when Australia dominated. I believe we, as the Indian team, are improving every day. I feel the WPL (Women’s Premier League) has done so much for the growth of women’s cricket in India. Because of the WPL, the practice sessions are different now, and the quality has improved. So, I think India’s chances of winning are high,” Niranjana, who recently retired from top-flight cricket, told TOI.Fielding has been a cause of concern for India in recent times. Even in the Asia Cup final, poor fielding proved costly. However, Niranjana, who represented the country in two Tests, 22 ODIs, and 14 T20Is, feels this is merely a bad phase. “I don’t think there is an issue with fitness, because the girls are fit. Maybe the catching can improve, but I don’t think it’s something to worry about. They have a very good fielding coach (Munish Bali) with whom I also worked when I was playing for the country. I believe he will address that aspect. The girls understand the importance of fielding, and catches can win matches. So, they will work on that for sure,” said Niranjana.Niranjana wants the fast bowlers to deliver more yorkers in the death overs. “Renuka (Singh) is in good form, picking up wickets, and Pooja (Vastrakar) is also bowling the bouncers really well. They are a great combination. What I personally feel is that they can work more on yorkers, as it is a difficult ball to hit,” she said.On the batting front, India look well-covered with quite a few options for the No. 3 slot. “I have always believed the No. 3 slot is the most important position. Jemimah (Rodrigues) was performing well there, but I think she is a pure team player; she’ll bat anywhere for the team. D Hemalatha, having shown brilliant form in the WPL, deserves that one-down slot. Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur can also position herself up and down the order according to the situation. There are quite a few talents who can play there, but for the kind of talent that Hemalatha has and for the kind of experience and run-scoring Jemimah brings, they should be the first options.”Niranjana is now looking to take up coaching seriously. “Cricket has given me everything, and now giving back to the game is what I really want to do. I’ll be truly satisfied if I can pass my experience on to the next generation. So, that’s the plan. Let’s just wait and hope for the best,” she said.