Captains gear up for Women’s T20 World Cup

The ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2020 is officially up and running as all the 10 Skippers gathered for the captain’s media launch yesterday at the Taronga Zoo in Sydney, Australia.

The 2020 edition of the Women’s T20 World Cup is set to be the most closely-fought yet, and the prize at the end could not have been greater.

A world record attendance for a Women’s sport fixture could be set when the final is held on March 8 in Melbourne – International Women’s Day – with those at the helm desperate to take their country to the MCG.

As hosts and defending champions, Australia Captain Meg Lanning knows expectation more than most but, with the chance to play in iconic stadia, she is keen for her team to enjoy and not worry about the experience.

Lanning’s side will face India in their tournament opener on February 21, with India looking to build on the performances which saw them reach the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup Final in 2017.

There is experience aplenty in Group ‘A’, not least from Sri Lanka Captain Chamari Atapattu, one of the few players in world cricket to have a better record against Australia than her format average.

While Atapattu boasts a wealth of captaincy experience, this is the first outing in the role for New Zealand’s Sophie Devine, opponents in their first game in Perth.

Rounding off Group ‘A’ are Bangladesh, keen to build on an improvement in the past few years which culminated in Salma Khatun’s side beating India in the Asia Cup.

Group ‘B’ features two previous Women’s T20 World Cup winning sides, one of whom is England – victors in the inaugural competition in 2009.

The other former champions are West Indies, who prevailed in 2016 but missed out in their home tournament two years ago.

Meanwhile, South Africa enters this World Cup as one of the underdogs while Pakistan have similarly failed to reach their full potential in ICC competitions.

The 10th and final team taking part in Australia is Thailand who has already made history by qualifying for a global event for the first time.

All Captains of the competing teams in the Twenty20 Women’s World Cup. Squatting (from left): India’s Harmanpreet Kaur, West Indies’ Stafanie Taylor, Australia’s Meg Lanning, Sri Lanka’s Chamari Atapattu, Pakistan’s Bismah Maroof. Standing (from left): Thailand’s Sornnarin Tippoch, New Zealand’s Sophie Devine, South Africa’s Dane van Niekerk, England’s Heather Knight and Bangladesh’s Salma Khatun