Former Australia fast-bowler Brett Lee has praised the Indian team ahead of their semifinal match in the ongoing ICC Women’s T20 World Cup and said the Harmanpreet Kaur-led team will be high on confidence while taking to the field for the high-octane clash.
Lee further heaped praises on the explosive Indian opener Shafali Verma and spinner Poonam Yadav and said it will require an “excellent team” to stop the Women in Blue from making it to the final.
“We saw from the opener against Australia just how good India can be, and it’s no surprise they’ve continued that form to top Group A,” Lee wrote in his column on the official website of ICC.
“They’ve never reached the final, but this is a different India team from the one they’ve seen before. They’ve combined match-winners in Shafali Verma and Poonam Yadav with consistent players with both bat and ball,” he added.
16-year Shafali Verna has been prolific for the Indian eves at the top and it is mostly for her blistering knocks that they have been able to post commendable totals on the board. She has scored 161 runs so far with 18 boundaries and 9 sixes.
Poonam, on the other hand, is the highest wicket-taker of the tournament with her 9 scalps. She has been the wrecker-in-chief for the oppositions and her onslaughts in the middle-overs have played one of the most important roles in India’s campaign so far.
“We’ve always known they have some of the best players in the world, but now Harmanpreet Kaur has a team around her that can support the big players, and fill in the gaps when they have an off day,” Lee said.
“They’ll go into the semi-finals full of confidence and it will take an excellent team to stop them from reaching the final,” he added.
India defeated Sri Lanka by seven wickets in their last group match at the Junction Oval in Melbourne on Saturday. Chasing 114, India raced towards winning total in less than 15 overs with Verma giving a usual blitzkrieg start at the top. She scored 47 off 34 balls and added a quickfire 34 runs for the first wicket with Smriti Mandhana (17 off 12).