Harmanpreet banks on familiar conditions in Bangladesh for India's quest for maiden women's T20 WC glory

New Delhi: Ahead of the women's T20 WC set to be played in Bangladesh later this year, India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur has banked "familiar conditions in Bangladesh" for her side's quest for maiden ICC title.

India have been drawn alongside six-time winner Australia, New Zealand and their Asian neighbours Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The top two teams from the two groups will qualify for the semifinals.

The Indian skipper is optimistic that the conditions in Bangladesh, resembling those in India, will play to their advantage during the T20 World Cup.

It’s a bit similar to India and hopefully, in these conditions, we should do well," Harmanpreet told ICC.

She went on to name who she thought were favorites to reach the semifinals of the tournament this time around.

"India, Australia, England and South Africa. Because all these teams have been doing really well and hopefully these four can qualify for the semis so we can have very good cricket over there. I think it will be Australia (who I look forward to facing) because they are very competitive,” said Harmanpreet.

Australia are the side to beat heading into any ICC event as they have made a stellar reputation of being serial winners. In fact, it was the team from Down Under, who eliminated India in the 2023 T20 WC semifinal, a close game which was decided by five runs. The right handed batter also talked about her side's chances against the Aussies this time around.

"If we do well against them, it will give us a lot of confidence and I’m really looking forward to playing against them," she said.

Team India has been actively getting ready for the tournament with a trip to Bangladesh for a five game T20I series in which they whitewashed the home side with a dominant 5-0 victory. Following the massive victory, Harmanpreet gave the Bangladesh-W side their due credit as the hosts can not be taken lightly.

"Bangladesh will be the home team and they will know the conditions better than us. Obviously crowd will be supporting them. But playing against them is always an exciting event. And hopefully, we will do well against them,” concluded the Indian skipper.