“The Talent In The Side Today…”: Mithali Raj Identifies 4 Youngsters From India’s World Cup Squad

As India captain, Mithali Raj prepares for a record sixth appearance at an ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup, she is looking forward to the future.

The Women’s World Cup will be played in New Zealand from March 4-April 3. India will play their first match of the tournament on March 6 against Pakistan.

“The talent that we’ve got in the last year, we’ve tried some young talent in the squad, and most of them have shown that they have the ability to play at this level like Richa Ghosh, Shafali Verma, we have Meghna Singh in the seamers, Pooja Vastrakar. They all have been given good game time and those series have really helped them and me as a captain to find out where they fit in into the composition of the team,” Mithali said, as reported by ICC.

“As far as me personally, I am happy with the way that I’ve been scoring runs, and I would love to continue the form into the World Cup,” she added.

With her vast experience at World Cups, the India captain has also been passing on her wisdom to those set to make their debut.

“The young talent in the side today, I tell them that you don’t have the experience of the past World Cups, so it’s a clean slate for you, all you have to do is enjoy the big stage. I did have a word with Yastika Bhatia, the other day, I took her out for a coffee and we’ve spoken quite a bit, she’s a chatty kid and asked me a lot of questions,” said Mithali.

“The only advice I would tell the young players is to enjoy the big stage because if you pile up the pressure you may not be playing the best that the team and you would want to do in the World Cup,” she added.

India had last suffered a 1-4 series defeat against New Zealand in the five-match ODI series.