"We are confident that this time it will be our moment": Harmanpreet Kaur ahead

Will the Indian women finally break the jinx by winning the Womenrsquos T20 World Cup which begins here today They have never won an ICC Trophy and hopefully this is the occasion when they will finally lay their hands on the World Cup Indian cricket fans are hopeful that the womenrsquos team emulate the menrsquos side who won the T20 World Cup in the West Indies earlier this year If that happens it will be a grand double for the fans to rejoicelsquoBest team herersquoIndian captain Harmanpreet Kaur taking to the media at the captainsrsquo conclave said ldquoI can say this is the best team we are going in with for a T20 World Cup We have players who have been together for a long time We know what the pressure is like and how to handle it Besides we will take the menrsquos team T20 World Cupwinning performance as an inspiration It has given us hope and confidence We have been playing good cricket over the last few years and have appeared in the 2020 final We have a wellsettled confident side and each player believes in her ability We are thus confident that this time it will be our momentrdquoAlso ReadFind out the team that Smriti Mandhana feels defeating is a great challengeOn two occasions India came close to winning the World Cup the 50overs one in 2005 and more recently the T20 version in 2020 losing to Australia on both occasions As luck would have it the formidable Aussies are in Indiarsquos group They have won the T20 World Cup in six of the eight editions They are almost invincible in this format and are firm favourites this time too Besides they also pose a great challenge to India in Group A in the league phase Indiarsquos pool can be termed as the Group of Death as besides Australia the other teams New Zealand Pakistan and Sri Lanka are not pushovers India had lost to Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup final just a few months agoHarmanpreet amp Co thus have their task cut out They will first have to clear the tough group in which they have to defeat at least three of the opponents to make it to the semifinals Then in the last four they can expect to come up against England or South Africa Thus despite being one of the top teams in the tournament India have to be at the top of their game right through Any slipup and they could be left in the lurch They will have to take a page out of the aggressive Indian menrsquos team led by the combative Rohit Sharma and play with aggression and great selfbelief in order for the Indian tricolour to fly high in Dubai on October 20 the day of the finalThose missed chancesHowever in recent times we have seen the Indian womenrsquos team succumb to pressure on big occasions In many matches they have lost the plot from a winning position be it in the 2022 T20 World Cup final or the recent Asia Cup final These were the games India ought to have won convincingly but somehow they allowed the pressure to get the better of them The Indian team now has a fulltime psychologist to help the players deal with pressures How much will that benefit the team only time will tellIndiarsquos challenge begins on October 4 when they take on New Zealand followed by Pakistan on October 6 both in Dubai Their next game will be against Sri Lanka in Sharjah on October 9 and then they return to Dubai to face Australia on October 13 to complete their league engagements That is when we will know where India stands where winning the firstever womenrsquos World Cup is concerned