"India will be the team to beat...": Harbhajan Singh on Women in Blue's T20 WC chances

NEW DELHI: Former Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh said that Team India will be a team to beat during the ICC Women's T20 World Cup, highlighting that the team has a "mixture of experience and youth".

The women's team will be in action during the ICC Women's T20 World Cup, which started on Thursday. They will be kickstarting their tournament against New Zealand on Friday.

Indian women's team has never managed to win a 50-over or 20-over World Cup. Coming to the T20 WC, their best finish was the runners-up finish to Australia in 2020.

In the previous edition of the tournament held last year, India finished in the semifinals, losing to Australia by five runs. Speaking on Star Sports, Harbhajan said, "Team India will be the team to beat in this tournament.

The World Cup is about to start, and I think India's team is very strong. They have both experience and youth. Harmanpreet (Kaur) is in good form, Smriti (Mandhana) is in good form, and Deepti (Sharma) is an unbelievable spinner.

They are a very capable team and have been playing very good cricket. The unit looks solid. If Team India plays good cricket overall, I believe they will win this tournament." Harbhajan said that the team India should not be under any pressure and only thing that matters is "Gurda, Jigra" (Heart and Courage).

"At this stage, the only thing that matters is Gurda, Jigra. Know yourself, play as a unit, and give your best. Results will follow. Don't think about the big picture; just take small steps with each match and focus on the process. I hope if they follow these things, our team will perform very well," said the former ace spinner.

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. 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.