A confident Indian women’s team are all set to kick off their campaign as they host neighbours Bangladesh in the first group match of the T20 World Cup at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on Tuesday.
The Mithali Raj-led team head into the match with the pressure of the favourites’ tag dangling over their heads, whereas Bangladesh, who came through the qualifiers have none of the burden of expectations, ahead of the tie here in Bengaluru.
Having clinched a stunning series victory over world champions Australia Down Under and vanquishing Sri Lanka before the the mega event has given India a huge confidence boost. The eves seem to have struck the perfect chord as they notched up convincing wins in the warm-up matches against Ireland and Sri Lanka, with both the bowlers and batswomen coming to the party to put on a dominant performance.
With the aim of at least making the semi-final berth India are unlikely to be stretched by Bangladesh who are definitely on the back foot here.
The visitors with nothing to lose are expected to give it their all as they take it one match at a time with no far-fetched sights.
With one win a loss in the warm-up matches here in Bengaluru, Bangladesh will need to find the right balance if they are to set things rolling.
The lower ranked team will have a mountain to climb if they are to put it past the hosts, who have a good batting line-up.
Apart from capitalising on home advantage, India will also bank on the seniors in the team to guide them through.
Skipper Mithali along with Jhulan Goswami, both of whom are appearing in their fifth World Cup, will guide the young brigade in Smriti Mandhana, Harmanpreet Kaur, Veda Krishnamurthy, the hard-hitting Tirush Kamini and Shikha Pandey, who seem to be doing everything just about right.
Prior to the group stage Mithali had said that India’s first aim would be to make it to the semis and keeping that in mind a win against Bangladesh will be the way forward for the home team.
