India vs Sri Lanka T20Is: Fresh from a triumphant ODI World Cup, India captain Harmanpreet Kaur said the side is embracing a new era of youth, emphasising that it’s “the right time to give youngsters a fair opportunity” as the preparations begin for next year’s T20 showpiece with the T20I series against Sri Lanka.
India will face the islanders in the first of the five-match T20I series on Sunday at the ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam.
“It was hectic (after the ODI World Cup win), but I want this kind of schedule after every World Cup, so I don’t mind that. But yeah, looking forward to this series, we have been waiting for a month when we will go to the field because end of the day we enjoy ourselves on the field,” Harmanpreet said at the pre-match press conference.
“So tomorrow, we are going to start our first game, and I’m really looking forward to that. It’s a very important series for us and hopefully we all give our best shot,” she added.
Asked about the addition of a few youngsters in the squad, Harmanpreet said, “Our end goal is the next T20 World Cup in the next six months and before that, we want to play a lot of T20 cricket.”
“From tomorrow it’s going to start and some new players in the team, it’s the right time to give them a fair chance to understand how we have to go in the next World Cup. So yeah, it’s a very important series for all of us and we just want to play with a free mindset and play how we have been playing T20 cricket for the last couple of years,” said the India captain.
She believes that Sri Lanka is a balanced side, powerful in the batting and spin departments.
The Sri Lanka team has a very balanced side, especially their batting. Their batting is, because Chumari is someone, you know, they are highly dependent, but the players around her play a very big role,” she added.
“Their spin attack is quite good; they have been dominating Asian conditions. So yeah, we know their strength, we know their weakness, now it’s only about how we can give our best against them and our focus is on that,” Harmanpreet said.