Thiruvananthapuram: India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur on Tuesday acknowledged shifting from ODIs to T20Is was tough, but said the 5-0 series win over Sri Lanka has given her side the motivation to raise its standards ahead of next year’s T20 World Cup.
The five-match T20I series was India’s first outing after winning the 50-over World Cup in November, and they blanked a hapless Sri Lanka to underline their form and skill sets across white ball formats.
“2025 has been great for us. All the hard work we have done, this year we have got the credit. Now, it’s about repeating these habits. Going forward, we want to look at this series and think of what we can do ahead,” Harmanpreet said during the post-match presentation.
“As a batter, it is my responsibility to give strength to that order and contribute. Shifting to T20 from ODI wasn’t easy, but everyone was excited to play. We fought for this, and I am happy how all things came together. Next is WPL, which is important for all of us. Hopefully, we play our best cricket and enjoy ourselves. The next six months are important, we want to keep working hard and raising the bar.”
Shafali, who won the ‘Player of the Series’ for her fine performance in the series, started her redemption during the World Cup final, scoring a brilliant 87 and since then, has carried that form in T20Is, scoring three fifties this series.
After capturing the maiden 50-over World Cup prize, Team India kickstarted their preparations for the T20 World Cup in the UK next year with a 5-0 whitewash against Sri Lanka. India has a tough Group A with Australia, Pakistan, South Africa and two next qualifiers and will start against Pakistan on June 14 at Birmingham.
Speaking during the post-match presentation, Harmanpreet said, “2025 has been great for us. All the hard work we have done, this year, we have got the credit. It’s about repeating these habits. All of us have played a lot of T20 cricket together. It was about believing we can do that. Sir (coach Amol Muzumdar) spoke about strike rates and lifting the standards. Everyone was happy, and we wanted to set those standards. Going forward, we want to look at this series and think of what we can do ahead.”
