BENGALURU: As the captains graced the stage — four in Bengaluru and as many in Colombo, Sri Lanka — at the media day on Friday morning, the one sentiment everyone echoed is how this could be the most tightly fought Women's Cricket World Cup in history.
India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur said that everyone has an equal chance to win while Australia captain Alyssa Healy felt that this could be the most competitive tournament. "I think all the teams have the calibre to play in the finals. So this tournament is something which is going to be very exciting. If you see all the teams, they have the calibre to play and win this tournament. It's very hard to take anybody's name, but I'm really looking forward to this tournament. As I mentioned, every team has a calibre. Every team is very strong and hopefully the best team will win," said Kaur.
Healy, dismissing the favourites tag Australia carries, said that for the first time in a while teams are starting on somewhat of an equal footing. "I feel like you have labelled us favourites, so thanks for that. But I don't necessarily think that's the case. I think India in their home conditions are going to be really, really tough to beat, along with a couple of captains sitting alongside. So it doesn't get any easier. Like I mentioned before, I think this ODI World Cup is going to be one of the strongest ones that I have been a part of. As a skipper, I'm really looking forward to that challenge of going out there and competing against some of the best teams in the world," said the Australian.
Sri Lanka's Chamari Athapaththu, Bangladesh skipper Nigar Sultana and Pakistan captain Fatima Sana said that they have realistic goals for finishing the top four and take it from there. Sri Lanka missed the last World Cup after the qualifiers got cancelled due to Covid and Bangladesh will be playing only their second global 50-over event.
Kaur, meanwhile, side-stepped the question on India-Pakistan and the ongoing controversies in the men's T20 Asia Cup. When asked if she feels India should play Pakistan in their second league game, scheduled to play in Colombo on October 5, the Indian captain said their focus lies on the opening game against Sri Lanka on Tuesday.
"Well, right now our main focus is on our opening game because that is very important. Our main focus is on that because that game is going to set the tone for us. And secondly, all the teams are equally important. We can only control the things we can control. We are here to play cricket and our main focus is on cricket. We are not going to entertain anything else on the field because we are here to play cricket and our main focus will remain on cricket only," said Kaur.
