Date:26/08/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/08/26/stories/2008082656021700.htm

Sport - Cricket

‘We are primed for England tour’

Principal Correspondent

The emphasis will be on one-dayers, says coach

— Photo: K. Bhagya Prakash

RARING TO GO: India captain Mithali Raj flanked by Sandhya Agarwal (manager) and Shantha Rangaswamy (coach) during a press conference.

Bangalore: Mithali Raj was a picture of poise and confidence. The Indian women’s cricket team captain exuded optimism on the eve of departing for England to play five ODIs and a Twenty20 match. “We will be competitive. We have trained hard and in our week-long camp at the Infosys campus in Mysore, we focussed on match-situations. About seven to eight players in this squad have been to England before while the rest haven’t, so we tried to recreate some of the situations we might encounter during the tour. We are well prepared,” Mithali said in a pre-departure press conference here on Monday evening.

Coach Shantha Rangaswamy meanwhile added that the team was playing more one-dayers as a build-up to the World Cup in Australia during March.

“This is a short tour of just 16 days and the emphasis on one-dayers is because of the World Cup ahead. During our playing days it was the reverse with emphasis on Tests,” Shantha said and stepped in again when Mithali was asked about her reported remarks about the England’s team’s sledging tactics during the last tour.

“I will answer that question,” Shantha said and added, “I believe that sledging has no place in sport and especially in women’s cricket. And Mithali and the team share the same view-point. So we will not start it in the first place and if they do it, we will not return it. We will do ‘Gandhigiri’ not `dadagiri’. We will also have a word with the England management, it will be like a friendship treaty and hopefully it will be honoured.”

Mithali emphasised that the Indian squad is primed for the tour. “England is a good team and has done well all over. It has won against Australia and New Zealand in recent times but we are well prepared. The lone fresher in our squad is Niranjana and the squad is more or less the same for the last two years and unlike in men’s cricket, we don’t have separate teams for ODIs and Tests,” Mithali said and she also welcomed the infusion of the Twenty20 format. “It is a good concept and is suited to women’s cricket,” the skipper said.

The Indian squad: Mithali Raj (capt), Jhulan Goswami, Jaya Sharma, Karuna Jain (wk), Sulakshana Naik (wk), Hemlata Kala, Niranjana Nagrajan, Asha Rawat, Priyanka Roy, Devika Palshikar, Neetu David, Seema Pujare, Gauhar Sultan, Amita Sharma and Snehal Pradhan. Coach: Shantha Rangaswamy; Assistant coach: Sanath Kumar; Physio: Sheela; Manager: Sandhya Agarwal.