"I feel I'm free to do what I want to do now"- Harmanpreet Kaur on being ODI captain
Indian women's team's newly-appointed ODI captain Harmanpreet Kaur addressed the media ahead of the side's ODI series against Sri Lanka, beginning in Palekelle on Friday (July 1).
The legendary Mithali Raj recently retired from international cricket and the BCCI decided to appoint Harmanpreet as the full-time white-ball captain.
Having already been leading the T20I team for a while, Harmanpreet Kaur opened up about how leadership was something that came naturally to her. She feels the captaincy gives her a lot of confidence and takes away all the pressure.
.@ImHarmanpreet shares her thoughts on leading #TeamIndia as the full-time ODI captain 👍
#SLvIND https://t.co/PloZjYOP1p
Here's what Harmanpreet Kaur had to say about becoming India's new ODI captain:
"When I'm leading, I feel I am more involved in the game. It always gives me a lot of confidence. Captaincy is something that comes naturally to me when I'm on the field. Over time, when you have a lot of years of leading [the team], things get easier. Right now, I don't feel extra pressure on me."
The 33-year-old also spoke about how she wants to bring transparency into the group so that players can express themselves better. She added:
"If I enjoy as captain, the rest of the group will also feel they can enjoy the moment. That's what I've been discussing in team meetings. I feel I'm free to do what I want to do now. When you give players the freedom, you can improve more. That is my motive, to give the players freedom to express themselves."
From the T20I series win against Sri Lanka to the plans for the Commonwealth Games. 👍 👍
#TeamIndia captain @ImHarmanpreet discusses it all with @JemiRodrigues after the third #SLvIND T20I. 👏 👏 https://t.co/MRJ8l2kMcJ
Harmanpreet Kaur on the team's goals
Harmanpreet Kaur believes a lot in the importance of fitness and wants to introduce a culture in the women's team where being fit would be of paramount importance.
She also feels India have been a bit sloppy in the field and improving their fitness levels would only help them become better as a fielding unit. She stated:
"For skills, we have coaches who help us, but with fitness, if I can set a goal for my team, and if they can see me and get motivated, I want to set an example. All of them have skills, we don't need to tell them much, but fitness is something I want our team to improve [on], and the second part is fielding. These are the two areas we want to cover well."
With the next Women's ODI World Cup still some time away, Harmanpreet and Co. have ample time to learn from their mistakes in the previous campaign and become a force to be reckoned with.