August 11, 2024

Sports Psychologist to Assist India at Women’s T20 World Cup Training Camp

India’s preparation for the Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 will begin with two camps. The first camp will be held at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru later this week, with the second scheduled for early September.

A large squad of players will gather in Bengaluru for fitness and conditioning, excluding those participating in the Women’s Hundred or Women’s Caribbean Premier League (WCPL). Key players like Smriti Mandhana, Deepti Sharma, and Richa Ghosh are currently involved in the Women’s Hundred in England, while Jemimah Rodrigues is playing in the WCPL.

The Bengaluru camp will focus on fielding and fitness in the first week, transitioning to more specific drills such as spot bowling and range hitting later. The BCCI has also enlisted a sports psychologist to support the team, addressing mental challenges and pressure management as requested by captain Harmanpreet Kaur.

The squad selected for the World Cup will return for an intensive skill-based camp in early September. India aims to win the World Cup for the first time, having previously fallen short in finals (2020) and semi-finals (2022).

Shreyanka Patil, recovering from a finger injury, is expected to be fit for the tournament, while Yastika Bhatia, rehabbing a knee injury, is also under observation. Bhatia’s absence has led to experiments with the No. 3 batting position, with players like D Hemalatha and Uma Chetry getting opportunities.

The selectors are considering a spin-heavy squad, but the security situation in Bangladesh, the host venue, might impact the final team composition, particularly the pace attack. Renuka Singh and Pooja Vastrakar have been regulars, while Arundhati Reddy, Meghna Singh, and Titas Sadhu are also in contention. The pace bowlers will be trained by Troy Cooley, a former Australian fast bowler and NCA consultant. The team will play a few intra-squad matches in September before heading to the World Cup.

Shakib’s Bangla Tigers Knocked Out of Global T20 After Refusing to Play Super Over

On Friday at the Global T20 Canada, a controversy unfolded when the Bangla Tigers Mississauga forfeited their eliminator match against the Toronto Nationals, leading to their elimination from the tournament.

Rain delays in Brampton had already pushed the start of the eliminator match, and as time ran out, officials decided that only a Super Over could be played. This decision was made according to the tournament regulations and communicated to both teams.

Bangla Tigers captain Shakib Al Hasan did not attend the Super Over toss, protesting the decision. If the match had been completely rained out, the Tigers would have automatically advanced to Qualifier 2 due to their higher position on the points table.

Zafir Yasin, the Tigers’ owner, contended that a Super Over was an unfair way to decide the outcome. However, GLT20 CEO Joy Bhattacharjya stated that the decision to proceed with the Super Over was consistent with the rules and not made arbitrarily.

“We were trying to ensure there was a result either way, however heartbreaking as it may be for the team that loses a one-over shootout,” Bhattacharjya told iplwin365. “And it was all part of the regulations.”

When asked why the regulations were distributed via WhatsApp (by tournament director Ingleton Liburd), Bhattacharjya said, “they were sent to the managers’ group for immediate action, and all tournament-related updates had been provided on the same group until then”.

Earlier in the day, attempts to arrange a Super Over for the Qualifier 1 match between Brampton Wolves and Montreal Tigers were unsuccessful due to rain and poor ground conditions. As a result, Montreal Tigers advanced to the final because they finished at the top of the group-stage table.

GLT20 CEO Joy Bhattacharjya clarified that the decision to use a Super Over was not a last-minute change to the rules.

“It’s not like the Super Over provision was brought in for just the game involving Bangla Tigers,” he said. “It was in place for both games [Qualifier 1 and eliminator]. It’s just that it wasn’t possible for the first game, and because the second game happened much later in the day, there was a little more time for the ground staff to work on the outfield.”

In the eliminator, after initial delays, a decision was taken to have a toss at 7.10pm, with the Super Over beginning at 7.30pm. As per regulations sent to both teams, there was a provision to call off the game if the Super Over didn’t begin by 7.50pm.

“At the time of the toss, the Toronto Nationals captain was present, but the Bangla Tigers team refused to appear,” GLT20 said in a statement. “The match referee explained the plausible consequences of the said action to the captain [Shakib Al Hasan] and thereafter the umpire subsequently awarded the match to Toronto Nationals.”

Yasin insists they had sought to have a minimum of five overs per innings, and not just a Super Over to decide the result. Bhattacharjya said the rules could not be changed just like that.

“Where’s the credibility for a league if rules are changed on the fly?” he said. “If we changed rules for one team, Brampton Wolves would’ve had every reason to argue they were robbed of an opportunity to directly qualify for the final instead of now having to play in the eliminator. The credibility was at stake.”

Bangla Tigers were also displeased that the boundaries were shortened before the official cut-off time to “remove the dangerous area of play from consideration”. Yasin said the organisers had “compromised the integrity of the competition” by seeking assistance from the Toronto owners to procure additional covers on the day of the playoffs.

“If the team owner intended to assist the tournament by purchasing covers, such a contribution should have been made before the tournament began, not before a crucial match,” Yasin said. “This situation raises concerns about the integrity of the league and the possibility that the league’s management decisions were influenced in favour of that team.”

Bhattacharjya explained this was done simply to ensure a crucial stage of the competition wouldn’t be decided by the elements and that these calls were made entirely by the match officials, who were the deciding authority.

“In a country like Canada, where such infrastructure isn’t always easily available, procuring additional covers was only done to ensure we did everything to have play,” Bhattacharjya said. “We readily accepted any help we could get, so that we didn’t leave anything to chance with the weather around.”

Even though the match was awarded to Toronto, the Bangla Tigers arrived at the venue on Saturday morning ready to play Qualifier 2. However, officials told them that no new requests or changes would be accepted. As a result, Brampton, who had lost Qualifier 1, went on to lose Qualifier 2 to Toronto. Toronto will now compete in Sunday’s final against Montreal.