India's chances are very high at the T20 World Cup: Lisa Sthalekar

NEW DELHI: In eight editions of the Women's T20 World Cup since its inception, India reached the semifinal four times and the final in 2020 but have never landed their hands on the silverware. Australia, not for the first time, were their nemesis in 2020 final.

Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur is determined to change the script this time when the tournament gets under way in the UAE next week, describing her team as the "best ever at the World Cup". She is bent on getting across the line.

Kaur had a strong supporter in former Australia skipper Lisa Sthalekar, who believes India could go the distance, but she qualified that assertion with a big 'if'. "They are like the men's side. If they have a great tournament, then anything is possible. So, India's chances are very high," said Sthalekar at an interaction with a select group of journalists at ABC – International Development's commentary and mojo programme at the Australian High Commission here.

Sthalekar said India would breeze through to the semifinal "if not the final" but that it would be anybody's game at the business end.

"India has the power, depth and decent goals. It's probably that 4-5-6-7 positions in the batting line-up where the discussions are. Can they score at a good rate? Then we have someone like Jemimah Rodrigues. She fired in the West Indies during the CPL. I saw the article Harmanpreet Kaur wrote for the ICC saying they have had enough of being in the semis, so let's bring home the trophy. There is every possibility that they would, but they will be relying on their openers to get off to a good start, and then for the all-rounders to come in. Players like Pooja Vastrakar, if she can stay fit and in rhythm, she will be quite a handful."

But Sthalekar, now a seasoned commentator, put her money on her country, the reigning champions, saying, "They are going for a four in four."

Sthalekar attributed the aura of invincibility around the Australian side to the "system", pointing out that the country was an early mover in the women's game. "Australia invested a lot of money before women's cricket got trendy. That has allowed them to put structures in place which meant players were getting exposed to elite training facilities, conditions, teammates, and being challenged. And I think because Australia has predominantly won, there is a mentality within the side that they can win from any situation."

On other potential title contenders, Sthalekar said, "England have been strong. You get a sense that they are building up nicely and they are taking the challenge on. South Africa were the finalists in 2023, and they seem to have a similar squad, so they could push hard. Also, never discount the West Indies."

Leading perspective to the landmark move of equal prize money, the Indian-born Aussie said, "It's really good. But what I'm more pleased about than just the winner getting the same money as their male counterparts is how much money teams get for just participating in the World Cup. This ensures it's not just strong nations getting stronger and wealthier. There is an effort to grow the global game. Scotland coming in for the first time will probably earn more money than their national contract. The headline is equal prize money and that is primarily the intention but when you look a little deeper, they would like to have a bigger impact on the game."