Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Luus targets first series win in India
PROTEAS stand-in captain Sune Luus believes her team have an edge on India in their upcoming ODI series, starting tomorrow in Lucknow.
It's quite an ambitious statement from the South African skipper considering India are ranked No 2 in the world – compared to the Proteas' fourth place – and for the fact that the visitors have yet to win a series in the land of spice and spinners.
India are also blessed with some of the biggest match-winners in the women's game like Mithali Raj, Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana and Poonam Yadav.
But Luus still believes they can cause an upset on this tour due to her team being fresh off clean-sweeping Pakistan at home, while India have not played any competitive cricket together since the start of lockdown last March.
"We’ve had game-time. I don’t think they’ve had that which I’m hoping will be an advantage for us. After having no cricket for nearly a year to have two tours in quick succession is really exciting," Luus said.
"They have players like Mithali Raj, Harmanpreet Kaur and all those players who we know are top quality. But we are well prepared."
Furthermore, the all-rounder believes the location of the series will also help level the playing field. All five ODIs and the subsequent three T20Is will be played at the Ekana International Cricket Stadium in Lucknow in a bio-secure environment.
It is a foreign venue for both teams as the Indian women's team have not played in Uttar Pradesh until now either.
"Coming to India is always exciting. We’re never sure what to expect when we get here. For this trip, we’ve never played at the ground, we don’t know what it looks like or what the conditions will be like. It will be the same for India as well.
“So, I think it’s going to be an even contest,” Luus said.
Meanwhile Kaur, who will be playing in her 100th ODI tomorrow, is just champing at the bit to get out in the middle again in the blue of India.
“I am very excited because we will be playing international cricket after a long time and also it’s my 100th ODI. Both these things will give me a lot of energy and I am sure I can do well," she told the media yesterday.
“We are not feeling any rustiness and we are very excited to be back. It has been a long break for us, but sometimes things are not in your control. I hope we will have a good tournament.
"Every tournament is important, and definitely South Africa is one team which has done very well in the last couple of years and for upcoming tournaments, it is an advantage for us to play well against them and regain our confidence since we are playing after a long time."