Former skipper Mithali Raj feels India's chances of winning the Women's T20 World Cup will depend largely on the top order's form. The legendary batter added that the Indian bowlers will have to show a marked improvement in testing conditions at the marquee event beginning on Friday in South Africa. "India's chances will be largely dependent on the top order. Smriti Mandhana is playing well and is a match winner," Mithali wrote in her column for the ICC."Harmanpreet Kaur has looked in good form too but we have to beat Australia and England you need others batters to come to the party."
The Indian team, which takes on Pakistan in their tournament opener on February 12 in Cape Town, have been playing in South Africa.
The Indian team, which recently finished runners up in a Tri series against hosts South Africa and West Indies, will be fielding a relatively inexperienced pace unit barring veteran Shikha Pandey. "The bowling will be tested and that is where we need to see an improvement," Mithali added. The 40-year-old hopes the U19 World Cup-winning duo of Shafali Verma and Richa Ghosh make use of the knowledge that they have gained while playing the age group tournament on these conditions. "I hope Shafali Verma and Richa Ghosh also have a good run at the World Cup considering they have gained so much experience of the conditions in South Africa."I am excited about some of the young players coming through and there is definitely some talent in the Under-19s team which I had the chance to see play at the inaugural ICC Under-19s Women's T20 World Cup."
