Coach WV Raman believes India are favourites heading into the Women's T20 World Cup
India women's cricket team coach WV Raman didn't do himself any favours after stating that the Women in Blue are favourites heading into the Women's T20 World Cup that is slated to be held in Australia and will begin on 21st February.
In a bid to sharpen their preparation for the upcoming World Cup, Harmanpreet Kaur's side were part of a tri-series Down Under where they faced the hosts and England. India performed admirably through the course of the series but failed to get over the line in the final and succumbed to an 11-run defeat against Australia.
However, that loss hasn't dented their coach Raman's confidence, who is adamant that having impressed everyone with their displays in the 2017 and 2018 editions of iterations of the World Cup, India have made incremental improvements ever since and are favourites heading into the latest edition of the competition.
"Definitely one of the favourites. They made people sit up and take notice in the 2017 World Cup and the 2018 T20 World Cup. Since then there has been a lot of improvement, in terms of fitness, agility on the field and their approach to batting," ESPN Cricinfo quoted Raman as saying.
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Raman wants his side to play a fearless brand of cricket, assume responsibility, and create history by emerging as victors of the tournament. The 54-year-old believes that the team can create an impact which will be reminiscent to the one that Kapil Dev's 1983 World Cup-winning team made and go down as superstars if they manage to win the tournament.
"The way all of them want to do well and take up responsibility will be evident regardless of how things pan out. They are definitely in with a good chance and they have an opportunity to create history," Raman said.
"If they end up doing that, they will probably do what Kapil's Dev's World Cup-winning team did for Indian cricket in 1983. And they will become superstars if they go on to win," he added.