'They are not that far away' - Ravi Shastri backs India to make it big at Women's T20 World Cup

Former India cricketer and former head coach of the senior Indian men's team Ravi Shastri expressed his thoughts on the India women's cricket team and stated that the Hamranpreet Kaur-led senior Indian women's team is not much away from being the stand-out performers in the ongoing Women's T20 World Cup in South Africa.

The India Women's team has been in South Africa since mid-January. They first played the tri-series against the hosts and West Indies to get acquainted to the conditions of the host nation. They lost the tri-series final to South Africa, but are now gearing for their T20 World Cup campaign opener against Pakistan, scheduled to take place on Sunday, February 12.

"I've kept saying it for the last six, eight months (India's women's team) are not that far away from winning a big one," the 60-year-old said while speaking on the latest episode of The ICC Review.

The former India coach stated that he was extremely impressed with how women's cricket, especially in India, has been shaping up, and that there are high chances of India winning a major ICC event. He sighted the example of the India U19 Women's team winning the inaugural U19 Women's World Cup in South Africa in January 2023, under Shafali Verma's leadership.

They've threatened, reached finals, lost some close games, but they're there: Shastri

Shastri claimed that if the junior team could do it, the senior team could also definitely succeed. The victory by the junior team had laid an inspirational foundation for the seniors to follow as a template. He compared the U19 team's victory with the historic Men's World Cup victory of 1983, where team India had defeated two-time champions West Indies under the leadership of Kapil Dev.

Shastri was a part of that World Cup winning team. He went on to say that that victory had opened a pandora's box for cricket in India, and in present times, the U19 India girls did exactly the same thing to encourage women cricketers on the big stage. Shastri added that the senior women have earlier reached the World Cup finals, CWG final and lost the games by close margins, but the consistency with which they are performing in the ICC events, it's only a matter of time they clinch a title in any format.

"I've always said the biggest thing that's going to happen in women's cricket, and the women's team is (not) that far away. They've threatened, they've reached finals, they've lost some close games, but they're there. I know what happened in ‘83, when we won the World Cup, it opened up a Pandora's Box. The whole look at the game changed, you know, the way players were perceived, the way the game was perceived, the way people wanted.

To pack the system, the way the monetisation of the sport changed overnight. I see that happening with the women's cricket. Now, under-19 is just a step. It was fabulous to see the way the young girls played, and won. And, especially the final, to beat a team like England, bowl them out for 68 and then do the job was an outstanding achievement and that spurred a lot of young cricketers to take the sport," Shastri concluded.

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