Women's T20 World Cup: 'Biggest thing not that far away', says Ravi Shastri ahead of India vs Pakistan clash

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Former India cricketer and coach Ravi Shastri has predicted "big things" for Women in Blue ahead of the team's first match of the tournament against Pakistan at the Women's T20 World Cup 2022-23 on Sunday, February 12 at Newlands in Cape Town, South Africa.

Shastri has predicted "big things" for India women's cricket team, saying that Harmanpreet Kaur's side is not far away from winning a major ICC trophy. He added that the team has looked "threatening" for a while now and that India can match the exploits of their Under-19 counterparts and taste success at the T20 World Cup in South Africa. Notably, India defeated England by seven wickets in the inaugural ICC Women's U-19 World Cup last month. The senior team is yet to taste success after seven editions of the Women's T20 World Cup. They lost to Australia in the final of Women's T20 World Cup 2020 in Australia.

"I've always said the biggest thing that's going to happen in women's cricket, and the women's team is (not) that far away," Shastri said on the latest episode of The ICC Review.

"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.”

Shastri was part of India’s ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup triumph under the leadership of Kapil Dev in 1983. The 60-year-old former all-rounder stated that the historic win over West Indies changed the course of Indian cricket. He has predicted a similar turnaround in the fate of women's cricket in the country where cricket is a religion.

“I know what happened in '83, when we won the World Cup, it opened up a Pandora's Box,” said Shastri who is currently one of the commentators for the ongoing 4-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy between India and Australia.

“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," Shastri, who represented India in 80 Tests and 150 ODIs between 1981 and 1992, added.

India are placed alongside Pakistan, England, West Indies and Ireland in Group B. They kick off their campaign against Pakistan before playing against West Indies, England and Ireland on January 15, 18 and 20 respectively.