India Women and West Indies women are ready to face-off in the three-match ODI series in Vijayawada. The matches are a part of the ICC Women’s Championship and will have a bearing on the qualification for the ICC Women’s World Cup, 2017.
All teams get to play 21 matches each and the top four in the points table automatically qualify for the CWC while the bottom four will have to play in the qualifiers to make it to the all-important tournament. While the West Indies are comfortably sitting at No 3 with 22 points from 18 matches, India are at No 6 with 13 points from 15 matches. With the Championship at its business end, the series will be crucial, especially for India as they look to qualify for the ICC CWC.
Speaking about the significance of the series, WI captain Stafanie Taylor, said, “We know how crucial these games are and it is just about applying ourselves. We know how vital they are, and we just have to go out there and apply ourselves and get the job done.”
Agreeing with her opposite number, India’s ODI captain, Mithali Raj said, “I second that. Even for the Indian team (it is very crucial). We lost one-day series in Australia, 2-1 so it is very important and imperative that we get into the series with confidence (after which India beat Sri Lanka 3-0, but are currently placed in the lower half of the points table with six matches still to be played). We do look forward to the points, since we are placed sixth in the table, it is very important for the Indian team to do well.”
Speaking about her team and their preparation ahead of the series, Mithali said, “We just finished our one-day domestic season prior to this series. It is good in a way that the girls have got some matches before the important series. The main players are among runs and the bowlers have been getting wickets in the domestic circuit. So, they will definitely be more confident.”
The Indian women last played the ODIs in February against Sri Lanka. Speaking about the gap since they last played, the India captain said, “It’s been a huge gap, but since we got the one-day domestic matches over before this, it gets little easier for us to slip into this format.”
Discussing her team’s preparation and adapting to the conditions ahead of the series in India, Taylor said, “Well, I suppose it’s just how you would phrase it. We know that the ground is there, we have trained there. We just have to have that positive mindset that we come here, we are focused on the job. It's about having that focus, that concentration that is what’s important.
“We have had a series before we came here. We have been here earlier this year. We know what it is like. It’s a different surface from what we played here in India. But at the end of the day, it is how you apply yourself and go there and execute,” she mentioned.
“We're pretty happy being back in India (where they won the World T20 earlier this year). There have been some great memories, playing here and we are really looking forward to playing back here,” the WI skipper said.
Adding to the skipper’s view, West Indies coach Conneil Drakes said, “I have been here in 2002, remember playing that ODI where we won the series and it always brings back some good memories coming back to India. It’s been one of my favourite places. We've had some great success here earlier. We are obviously looking forward to playing this series and playing against India. We're excited and very mindful of the fact that we must play some great consistent cricket if we have to beat our opposition. We need the points to qualify, so we have to play some good cricket.”
Speaking about the series ahead and the opposition, India coach, Purnima Rau said, “West Indies is a good opposition to play with and I think it is going to a good contest between the two sides. Both the teams have good experienced players and also youngsters. We are on even ground here and it is something that the players and team managements are looking forward to. On behalf of the Indian team, I would like to wish West Indies all the best and hope that we have a tough contest going ahead in this series. The qualifying points will take us through to the World Cup.”
