Queensland [Australia] - India women's T20I team skipper Harmanpreet Kaur feels the reason the Australian side is doing well at the international level is due to the Women's Big Bash League (WBBL).
Brisbane Heat on Friday announced the signing of leading Indian leg-spinner Poonam Yadav to complete their squad for WBBL. Poonam also became the eighth Indian to register for the league this season.
Harmanpreet said playing in WBBL has given Australian young players a lot of confidence."The reason the Australian team is doing really well is that whole season they get very good cricket. If you saw today the way McGrath batted, we can see that they are getting so much confidence because of the competition at WBBL. They are ready to play international cricket," said Harmanpreet in the press conference after India's defeat on Saturday.
"We do have a few players who have not played as much cricket at a top-level and don't have that experience. Like Renuka Thakur, she has done very well at the domestic level but still, she doesn't have that much experience. Yet she did well in the first two overs," she added.
Australia on Saturday held their nerve to beat India by 4 wickets in a low-scoring thriller at the Carrara Oval. The home side chased the target of 119 in the 19.1 overs to seal the multi-format series with one match to spare.
Harmanpreet highlighted how a women's IPL will benefit Team India. The skipper cited how men's cricket has grown over the years due to the introduction of IPL."But if there is a Women's IPL, it will be a great opportunity for domestic players who come to the international level. The same thing happened with the men when they got a platform like IPL," said Harmanpreet.
"Now when they play international cricket, it doesn't look like some young talent is playing, they show maturity because they have the tag of having played 40-50 IPL games where they have played good cricket and won matches for their team."
"That is the only reason we are lacking right now. If we get to play good cricket at the domestic level before international matches then we will definitely improve as a team," she added.
Australia won the ODI series 2-1, drew the Test and now this win in the second T20I has handed them the series. (ANI)