Team India girls wanna have fun! That's what Harmanpreet Kaur feels

India's women cricket team coach WV Raman (left) and skipper Harmanpreet Kaur at the BCCI headquarters yesterday. Pic /AFP

The Indian women's cricket captain Harmanpreet Kaur on Thursday said handling pressure would be crucial in the upcoming ICC Women's T20 World Cup in Australia, something that her side couldn't do in the last two global showpieces. She was speaking to reporters at the pre-departure press conference ahead of the tri-series involving England and hosts Australia, which will be followed by the T20 World Cup next month. India made a semi-final exit from the last T20 World Cup and in the previous ODI World Cup, they had finished as runners-up.

"We were quite close in the last two World Cups, the only thing is we have to keep in mind how to handle pressure in the tournaments, last two World Cups we lacked in handling pressure," Harmanpreet said. "This time we want to enjoy rather than taking more pressure on ourselves, thinking that it is a big tournament. We have to avoid thinking like that and focus on giving our best," she added.

The women's T20 World Cup will be played in Australia from February 21 to March 8. India will take on Australia, Bangladesh, New Zealand and Sri Lanka in the Group stage. Harmanpreet, 30, said the team needs focus on enhancing skills. "Last few World Cups, we put ourselves under too much pressure of playing in a big tournament. This time rather thinking that we are going for a big tournament, we just want to focus on our skills, how we should play and how to make the team win," she said.

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