Women's T20 World Cup 2020: Harmanpreet Kaur feels having reserve days for knockout games in future will be a great idea
What's the story?
Indian Women's captain, Harmanpreet Kaur has expressed her disappointment over not being able to play the scheduled semi-final match against England Women. The Indian skipper feels that the ICC should introduce reserve days for the knockout matches in future.
The background
Although there were predictions of heavy rain in Sydney, the organizers decided to continue the Women's T20 World Cup 2020 semi-finals as scheduled. Unfortunately, rain did not allow India Women and England Women to play the first semi-final as the match had to be called off with the Women in Blue advancing to the final.
This is the first time in the history of the Women's T20 World Cup that India Women have made it to the final but certainly, this was not the way Kaur and company wanted to make history.
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The heart of the matter
Talking to the reporters after the first semi-final got abandoned, Kaur disclosed that the team management had set the plans as per the rules of the tournament. She said:
"Unfortunate we didn't get a game, but there are rules and we have to follow it. Having reserve days in the future will be a great idea. From day 1, we knew we have to win all the games because in case the semis don't happen, that would be hard for us. In that sense, credit to the team for winning all the games."
She further spoke about her teammates and heaped praise on openers Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma. Kaur mentioned that she is spending more time in the nets while even Smriti is practicing very hard. When asked about the final match, which will happen this Sunday, she added:
"First T20 World Cup final means a lot for us. But as a team, we just want to play our best cricket in the final. If we can play our best cricket, we will be in a good position. We know both South Africa and Australia have done well so far, so we are not thinking about the other team."
What's next?
The second semi-final of the competition is currently underway as the hosts, Australia Women are up against South Africa Women. It will be interesting to see which team join India Women in the final.