Veda Krishnamurthy says India cannot let themselves get distracted by their win over Australia and must focus on the task at hand when they take on Bangladesh.
India’s impressive bowling display lit up the opening match of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2020 in Sydney, Poonam Yadav playing a starring role under the lights with four wickets to halt the defending champions’ run chase and seal an opening Group A win for her side.
But the batter does not want to see India let their emotions get the better of them, insisting the top and middle order need to survive longer to take the heat off their bowling attack in Perth.
“We want to make sure we have enough of a score for our bowlers to defend,” she said.
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“At the same time, we can’t be too ambitious with our strokes or risk being run short, but we need to make sure we get enough runs on board.
“As you all saw, our bowling attack is doing really well. It’s all about giving them that extra cushioning, If we had finished 15 runs shorter on Friday, it would have been a lot more difficult for us.
“We can’t be complacent with the victory. We have to let go of those emotions now and focus on repeating all the good things we did.”
For Bangladesh, the match against India will be their first of the tournament, the Tigers aiming to spring an upset and begin their quest for a first Women’s T20 World Cup semi-final on a high.
To do so, captain Salma Khatun is urging her side not to dwell on India’s stunning opening victory and instead focus on getting their own performance right at the WACA.
“We’re not worried about the result between India and Australia,” said Khatun. “We’re just focused on our own.
“We’ve been watching the opening matches of the tournament with keen interest and we are really excited to get going in this one.
“It was great to see Thailand as a newcomer do well with their fielding and bowling. They were unable to get the result because of their inexperience but they put on a very good show and we love to see that.
“All our girls put their 100 per cent into the warm-up match against Pakistan and we hope to have a positive start at this World Cup.”
This article was first published on the International Cricket Council website and is being reproduced here from the ICC Media Zone
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