India spinner Shree Charani reflected on becoming the No. 1 T20I bowler in the world and said being top-ranked is not her priority at the moment; instead, she is completely focusing on the ongoing ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, where she became India’s highest wicket-taker in single edition.
The left-arm spinner also became the highest wicket-taker for India in a single edition of the tournament during the clash against Bangladesh at Old Trafford. The 21-year-old achieved the milestone in the 20th over of Bangladesh’s innings when she dismissed Shorna Akter to claim her 11th wicket of the tournament, surpassing Poonam Yadav’s previous Indian record of 10 wickets set during the 2020 edition.
“To be honest, right now my focus is completely on the World Cup. We are in the middle of the tournament, and that is all that matters to me. I’m not thinking about being the number one ranked T20I bowler or any individual rankings.
“Those things are nice to have, but they are not my priority at the moment. I just want to focus on my bowling, stick to my plans, perform well for the team and win the World Cup. If I keep doing that, everything else will take care of itself,” Charani said on JioStar.
Reflecting on her performance against Bangladesh, she added, “I just kept things simple; I didn’t try to do anything extra and focused on what I had practiced. My line, length, and variations and I knew that if I kept hitting the right areas, the wickets would come. The pitch had a little bit of help, so I just stuck to my strengths and let the ball do the rest.”
India dropped Juairiya Ferdous three times as she top-scored with 33 in the Tigresses’ 136/8. “I didn’t get frustrated by the catches dropped off my bowling. Dropped catches are part of the game. It happens to every bowler at some point. You can’t control what happens after the ball leaves your hand.
“All you can do is keep bowling in the right areas and trust your teammates. I don’t let it affect my focus. I believe that if you keep doing the right things, the rewards will come. At the end of the day, whatever is written for me, it will come,” she added.
Shafali Verma produced a player-of-the-match performance as India beat Bangladesh by five wickets to boost their semi-final hopes. The result leaves India second in Group A with three wins from four matches ahead of a mouth-watering clash with leaders Australia.
Speaking about India’s mindset going into the must-win game against Australia, the spinner said, “Yes, the Australia game is going to be an important one. We want to win and finish on top of the group stage. But we are not going to treat it any differently. We are going to keep things simple.
“There’s no need to overthink. We have played against them before, and we know what to expect. It’s about executing our skills on the day. One game at a time. That has been our approach throughout this tournament, and we will continue with the same mindset.”