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| Need to put up our best vs Pak: Mithali Raj | | |  agencies
TAURANGA, Mar 5: Mithali Raj wants India to put its best foot forward and build momentum against Pakistan as the two sides gear up to clash in the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup match at Bay Oval here on March 6.
The Indian skipper called Pakistan "good side", adding that India will not take any team lightly.
"As a team we are excited to start the campaign. We are not looking at it's Pakistan we are playing against, we are looking at a team that's well prepared. Need to put up our best and build momentum, that's how we look at the first game," said Mithali on the eve of the match in a virtual press conference.
"Pakistan is also a good side, they have prepared as hard as us. Not taking any team lightly. We will try to play our game with a lot of intensity."
The match is on the same ground, where the hosts New Zealand lost to West Indies by three runs in a nail-biting curtain raiser.
When asked whether the team followed the World Cup opener, Mithali said, "A great opening match to start the tournament, the match went down to the wire and we were all watching it on the television. There were a few takeaways from how the conditions were, we have prepared likewise.
"From seeing it and England vs Australia, wickets are helpful for batters. 250 is something every team is looking at. Also imp. to have set batter playing through the innings when wickets are on slower side, not easy for new batter to go straight away.
"We need to go into the tournament with a clean slate and always believe we can turn it around from situations. Important in longer tournaments to be present and aware on the ground."
Talking about Shafali Verma's shaky starts, Mithali backed the youngster and said, "How you negotiate conditions in the middle is important. As a talented kid, Shafali understands her own game. She will come good."
All-rounder Deepti Sharma batted at number three, followed by Mithali and Harmanpreet Kaur at four and five respectively in the warm-up games.
Mithali stressed that Deepti never complained about her role in the line-up, but noted that the team wants Deepti as a pure all-rounder in this tournament.
"She's always come good in whatever role we have given, never complained. She is a very important link. Couple of years, we haven't used her in the top but this tournament we're looking at her as pure allrounder." |
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