Overall improvement brings out belief that India can beat Australia any day, says Harmanpreet

Mullanpur (Punjab), Sep 13 (PTI) India’s improvement in critical areas like fielding and fitness, along with on-field results, strengthens her belief that they can beat a strong team like Australia any day, said captain Harmanpreet Kaur here on Saturday.

Ahead of the eight-team ODI World Cup, India will be on the final lap of their preparations when they take on Australia in the three ODIs with the first beginning here on Sunday.

Harmanpreet said while Australia’s set-up back home allowed their team to dominate around the world, India are now in a position to challenge them with a similar brand of cricket.

“We have been working hard for the last one year and showing improvement everyday, but if we talk about Australia, they have had a very good set up from a long time and they have been playing dominating cricket,” Harmanpreet told the media ahead of the first ODI here.

"We have entered that race now and with the Indian team’s performance in the last one year and a half, we are at that stage where everyone is thinking we can beat them." “In the past, we used to work hard for that but now we have seen in so many areas, especially in fielding and fitness, we were working on it but now, the results have also starting coming (for us). No doubt, they (Australia) have been very dominating,” she said.

Harmanpreet said she personally believes her team has the firepower to beat the seven-time World Cup winners.

“They have played very good cricket around the world and have dominated as well, but the stage we are at, as a captain, I personally feel there is a belief that we have a good team and we can beat them any day,” she said.

“The process for the last one-year-and-a-half has been so that we have seen a lot of improvement. The last series which we played in England, we beat one of their best sides and that shows somewhere we are doing a lot of things correctly and are on the right track,” she added.

Harmanpreet also pointed at the collective time which this bunch of Indian cricketers have spent together as one of the factors in the team's performance improvement.

“Most of the girls have been playing together for many years. We know what we can do for the team. The belief is there that we can beat any team on any day and that is something which is very important,” she said.

“Wherever and whenever you are playing, you have to have that belief and results will automatically follow. The belief is there that we can do well, hopefully we play our best cricket in these three matches and change whatever the stats suggest,” Harmanpreet added.

With aggressive opener Shafali Verma missing out on a spot for the ODIs against Australia as well as the World Cup, Harmanpreet put her faith in Pratika Rawal to continue with her good work.

“No doubt, whenever Shafali has been with the team, there's is the motivation that if she plays well the team would win. At the same time, Pratika has produced very good numbers and has shown a lot of confidence. She has proved her talent in a short period of time and we can't ignore that," Harmanpreet said.

“She brings stability to the team. We hope that she is able to continue the same way she started her career. The next one-and-a-half-month is very important for us, rather than thinking who is there in the team and who is not.” “Shafali has been the most important player in our team, we will definitely miss her, but Pratika has given a really good start and a good performance. We are very dependent on her and we know that she will do well,” Harmanpreet added. PTI DDV PDS PDS