Need to Use Sri Lanka tour to Prepare for the World T20 - Mithali Raj

Veteran India batter, Mithali Raj admitted that the team needs to regroup and address some issues ahead of the ICC Wome’s World T20 in November in Windies.

Meanwhile, prior to that, India will tour to Sri Lanka to play a limited-overs series. However, they will have to put their poor performances in recent times to do well in the upcoming tours.

They lost to Australia by 3-0 margin at home in three one-day internationals in March. Moreover,  also finished bottom in the triangular T20 series in Mumbai against Australia and England. India did beat England 2-1 thereafter in an ODI series in April, but the momentum didn’t last too long.

Much to their dismay, they lost the Asia Cup final against Bangladesh in June earlier this year. Previously, they lost against the neighbouring country in the group stages as well. However, India will look to start afresh under their new head coach Ramesh Powar.  Mithali Raj feels Powar’s experience will come in handy for the team.

“It is important to regroup and get back the confidence again as the T20 World Cup is scheduled in November,” Raj told The Hindu. “In this context, the Sri Lanka series is very important. With the new coach himself being a spinner, I am sure his experience will help our tweakers as we depend heavily on them in all formats,” he added.

The veteran India cricketer feels the upcoming Sri Lanka series will show where they stand as a team. Furthermore, she also noted that it will help them to solve their issues.

“The Sri Lanka series will also be important in terms of knowing where we stand, what is the composition we should have, and accordingly, use these matches to prepare for the World Cup,” Mithali continues.

Mithali Raj doesn’t want to give up yet

After veteran pacer Jhulan Goswami announced her retirement from T20Is last week, there are question marks over Raj’s future too. However, she doesn’t want to give up yet.

“I would like to continue as long as I am fit and able to contribute to the team,” she said. “I don’t know really what keeps me going. But, it is obvious that the team needs to be settled.

“That way, I feel we should not struggle in ODIs. It takes time to find the right combination which can last longer. Probably, till that time I will hold on,” Mithali Raj noted.

India’s tour of Sri Lanka will start with the first of three ICC Women’s Championship ODIs on September 11. The sides will also clash in five T20Is following the T20Is.