New Delhi: ICC Women’s T20 World Cup The official start of 2024 took place on Wednesday with a grand Captain’s Day event at the Dubai International Stadium, uniting the captains of all 10 participating teams on the eve of the tournament.
The ICC took a distinctive approach to the traditional captains’ photograph this year, inviting each captain to express his excitement for the tournament in person against the impressive backdrop of the Dubai Frame, an iconic symbol of the UAE landscape.
The unique setting of the captains’ photoshoot adds a special touch to the start of the tournament. The World Cup to be held in Dubai and Sharjah will feature an exciting series of 23 matches in just 18 days.
A special panel session featuring all the captains during the program provided fans with valuable insight into the lives, strategies and aspirations of the captains as they prepared for the much-awaited ninth edition of the tournament.
Here’s what all 10 captains said about their chances at the World Cup:
Alyssa Healy (Australian captain): “There are 10 teams sitting here on the stage today who deserve to be here and have a real chance to win this World Cup. You’re not here to defend a title, that’s fine.” world cup It’s about, you came here to win it, so we’re here with that approach and I’m excited to move forward. “Our pool is quite complicated. We have to overcome a lot of these teams to be able to win the trophy and that’s a challenge we’re excited about.”
Harmanpreet Kaur (captain of india, “I think it’s something that we keep learning every day. Because when you win, sometimes you feel, OK, this is something that I accomplished. But at the same time, the next You can make little mistakes as you go, and I think that’s part of the game and I think learning is something that’s never going to stop, every day I’m learning more. “I’m gaining experience from every game. They’re helping me, they’re working hard to take our team to the level we want to be at. I’m happy with where our team is, like Working hard to achieve small things.
Hayley Matthews (West Indies captain): “You spend the whole year preparing and playing and this is obviously the pinnacle of where you want to be as a team and where you want to compete. “Whatever series you play, every training session you have is a World Cup. The cup is towards the goal, so (preparation) is definitely a long process, and I think as a West Indies team we have been focusing on it for a very long time. So yes, just hoping for some success.”
Nigar Sultana (Bangladesh captain): “Yes, (moving the event from Bangladesh) was very disappointing initially. But the thing is that we are very professional. Now we are here and we are going to play it and we are very fortunate that we will get something like that.” Going to help all the fans and families and friends be happy “I am expecting a lot of spectators, because there are a lot of Bangladeshis in Sharjah. And playing in such an event, I think more people will come to watch and support us.”
Katherine Bryce (Scotland captain): “Yeah, I think we really want to compete in this competition. We’ve played some great cricket in the qualifiers and are heading into this, so I think we just want to go out there and prove ourselves on that stage. Want to do justice and perform together.” “In some good performances against these teams.”
Heather Knight (England Captain): “I think captaincy is always a constant challenge. I don’t think as a captain you need that freshness. You’re always challenged in different ways and you try to learn little tricks. And you’re trying to move forward in whatever you do, but I think as you live there, you learn to get your messages across in some different ways using the people around you. So it kind of helps to keep things fresh and evolving, which is a place where you’re obviously keeping things fresh and finding different ways to say things.”
Fatima Sana (pakistan captain, “I will try to enjoy myself, express myself and support myself (as a captain). Actually, our entire management is supporting me, and they told me that you would have taken a courageous decision on the field. So just try to do that.” , keep calm and do whatever you want.”
Sophie Devine (New Zealand captain): “I think the best thing about the women’s game is that there has been growth and what has happened off the field has helped me achieve that. In terms of fast bowlers, you have seen the girls become more professional. Being able to do that in the gym and seeing bowlers start running distances of 120km or more, that becomes a challenge, but I think that’s what’s going on in the women’s game. Those types of skills continue to improve, “We have a lot of young fast bowlers coming through. And then, he’s developed massively over the last 12-18 months, so I’m definitely looking forward to seeing what kind of bowler he can become.”
Laura Wolvaardt (South Africa captain): “I think last year was obviously very good, but we’re just taking one game at a time. Obviously a very tough pool, but hopefully we can get to the semi-finals and then “Anything can happen to him.” It’s obviously a little different now. I think most of the players playing in the team have never played under anyone other than Hilton (Mooreng). But Dillon (Du Preez), who has taken over, has been with us for four or five years. So, he still knows how things were and where we’re going. And actually we’ve officially got a batting coach and a fielding coach for the first time this season, so everything seems really well organized at the moment. It’s been great getting a lot of information from a lot of different coaches, even having an extra hand in training and doing specific things to specific groups has been amazing. We are looking forward to this tournament.”
Chamari Athapaththu (Sri Lanka captain): “We’re coming in with the underdog tag all the time. So, there’s no pressure on us. I don’t want to take too much pressure on my shoulders and my teammates’ shoulders. But we keep it simple. I have a very young We have some seniors as well, so I hope we can continue to play our best cricket for the last 16 months, so it’s a different format and different conditions. Have to do it again, fresh day. So, keep it simple, one ball at a time, one game at a time.”
