Ahead of the three-match one-day international series against England, India skipper Mithali Raj said her team is focussed on avoiding the qualifiers ahead of the 2021 World Cup.
The 36-year-old admitted that it will be a stiff ask for the hosts ahead of facing world champions England in the absence of Harmanpreet Kaur, who was ruled out due to an ankle injury.
Mithali said her team is focused on holding on to its position in the top-four of the world rankings till 2020 to get direct qualification for the 2021 World Cup.
“It’s a very important series for us, being No 3 in right now in points table,” she said at the pre-match press conference before the first ODI at the Wankhede Stadium on Friday. “Points are at stake and I definitely want the team to get direct entry [into the next World Cup]. It’s important to get as many points as possible from the series.”
India had beaten England 2-1 in the ODI series in 2018 at home, but that series was not part of the qualifying cycle. Mithali said facing the visitors without the Twenty20 International skipper will show the team’s depth.
“England are a formidable side, being the World Cup champions and they will come strongly at us. We should be playing a positive brand of cricket,” said Mithali.
“They’ve got their senior players back into the squad, and we are without one of our senior players. But this series will also show how we meet this challenge. It will reflect the depth of our team.
“However, it is also an opportunity for young players in the team to rise up and use the opportunity to step up and perform,” said the India captain. “I should emphasise that we, as a batting unit, should take the [added] responsibility and whoever gets the opportunity should play that role,” she added.
‘We may not play Pakistan’
For a direct entry into the World Cup, Mithali and company need to hold on to their position in the top-four of the world rankings till 2020. In the wake of the Pulwama terror attack and strained relations between the neighbouring countries, there is a distinct possibility that the Indian team may not face Pakistan.
Mithali said she was aware of this sort of scenario. “It’s always been in our minds that we probably won’t play Pakistan,” she said, given India did not face the arch rivals in the previous qualifying cycle either. “And that’s why, whatever matches we play, we should be going in by keeping in mind that we need those points.”
India had defeated New Zealand 2-1 in the recent ODI series. “It was our first [bilateral series] win on the New Zealand soil, so it feels great to win a series there, but to come home and play England is completely different,” she said.
“The conditions are different. We’ll take a lot of positives and confidence from that series win, but our preparation and strategy differs from what it was in New Zealand.”
Mithali was of the view that spinners would hold the key although because of the early starts there would be some moisture for the medium pacers to exploit.
“A little bit of moisture will be there because most of the matches in India start at 9 am. But as the days progress it [wicket] will ease out. I think spin will be the main factor for all the matches we play at home and that’s one of the reasons why we produce the best spinners. If there is moisture the fast bowlers will come into play and in the second innings there will be some slow turn.
“In New Zealand they [Indian spinners] did very well and considering the slowness of the wickets, I hope they will do well in these conditions.”
She conceded the good starts provided by the team’s openers in New Zealand had given the middle-order little chance to test its wares. “Jemimah [Rodrigues] and Smriti [Mandhana] gave us great starts in New Zealand and the middle-order was not tested that much,” she pointed out.
Mithali also dismissed speculations of her impending retirement from the T20 format after the England series. “When it’s the right time, I’ll let you all know.”