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Cricket Players'I know what happened in ‘83': Ravi Shastri's 'Pandora's Box' statement for India women's team ahead of World Cup
India start their Women's T20 World Cup campaign with a match against Pakistan
India begin their T20 World Cup campaign with a highly-anticipated match against Pakistan. While the match-up has historically been one-sided, unlike the men's counterpart that has produced a number of memorable games over the years accross formats, it remains one of the biggest games of the tournament due to the cricket rivalry between the two nations.
India come into the tournament having witnessed their U-19 team lift the inaugural U19 Women's T20 World Cup earlier this year. Former India men's head coach Ravi Shastri has said that he feels that the Indian women's team are not far away from claiming a big trophy.
"I've kept saying it for the last six, eight months (India's women's team) are not that far away from winning a big one. They've threatened, they've reached finals, they've lost some close games, but they're there,” said Shastri on the ICC Review.
“I know what happened in ‘83, when we won the World Cup, it opened up a Pandora's Box,” said Shastri, who represented the Indian men's team in 80 Tests and 150 ODIs between 1981 and 1992 and was part of the side led by Kapil Dev that won the 1983 World Cup.
“The whole look at the game changed, you know, the way players were perceived, the way the game was perceived, the way people wanted. To pack the system, the way the monetisation of the sport changed overnight.
“I see that happening with the women's cricket. Now, under-19 is just a step. It was fabulous to see the way the young girls played, and won. And, especially the final, to beat a team like England, bowl them out for 68 and then do the job was an outstanding achievement and that spurred a lot of young cricketers to take the sport,” he said.
India had finished runners-up in the last T20 World Cup, losing to Australia by 85 runs in the final. They have also finished runners up twice in the ODI World Cup, losing to Australia in the 2005 final and England in 2017.
