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ICC WOMEN'S WORLD T20

November 11, 2018

Mithali Raj

Georgetown, Guyana

Q. Mithali, obvious question, back up the order opening. What was the brief given to you that what the order was going to be today?
MITHALI RAJ: Well, that has always been my role of an opener in the team it's just that maybe because it was a big team we were playing the first game, and we wanted somebody in the middle order, so experience does play a role when you want to push yourself down in the middle order.

I think today they felt that because there are spinners in the Pakistan side, and it would be wise to open, so I opened the innings for India.

Q. Early on there were a lot of dropped catches. What was said on the field in the middle innings break? What was the message given out to the girls?
MITHALI RAJ: Well, I think it's important that it's a big tournament, and India-Pakistan always has its own pressures. The players do feel the pressure on the ground. But I think it's just when you're playing on such a big platform, there are times when you forget the fundamentals of the game I would say, like fielding, so it was important to remind the girls to make things very simple and just have a lot of self-belief.

Q. 133 was a middling kind of total, so was the approach to go out for it, all out? Or was it to go slow and steady and take your time the whole 20 overs?
MITHALI RAJ: Well, I think as an opener, honestly, if you ask me, I don't think too much how to go about it, but as a batter you would want to focus on the ball and play with instinct. Batting is all about instincts. You don't plan and go there because obviously the opponents have a different plan, and if you only want to stick to your plan, there is obviously a downfall. So as a batter, my focus is only on to watch the ball and play instinctively whether it is an aggressive shot or walking out for a single.

Q. Mistakes do happen and dropped catches do happen. I just wonder within the tournament structure whether it's as good a time as any to get that sort of performance as a reminder to each other of the fact that you can't afford to take your mind off the game too much? You know, you didn't want that in a semifinal, for example.
MITHALI RAJ: Well, we wouldn't want it in any of the games, actually.

Q. But do you understand what I mean, though? It will at least focus on the players' minds on what -- many of us thought the other night it was a near perfect performance, and you as a team played that down, quite rightly so, but it means that your players have good focus now?
MITHALI RAJ: See, we've always had the fielding sessions in our training, when we go out for trainings between the games. It's always part of the training sessions. But then no matter how much you train, even as a batter obviously you will have a ball that you get out, too, no matter how good a technically sound batter you are. It goes even to fielders. You might be the best fielder in the world, but there would be a point sometimes it happens in the sport that you drop catches, but not necessarily do you have to say that it's a bad fielding side or a bad fielder. It's just part of the sport.

But yes, as you mentioned, it will be playing on our mind that we shouldn't be doing the same mistakes in the coming matches because at some point it might cost us, and we've seen in the previous games, in the previous tournaments how important it is to take catches.

Q. The penalty runs, were you aware of what was going on out in the middle?
MITHALI RAJ: Well, yes, we were told before getting in to bat that those 10 runs were because the Pakistan batters were running on the danger end and they were warned. So were we, but we didn't get to that point. We were aware of it.

Q. Did you mean that India were also warned for running on the pitch?
MITHALI RAJ: Well, yes, we were given a friendly warning. How many times do you think a friendly warning should be? More than once? Yeah.

Q. You have done so well at the test level, not much Test cricket, and the 50 overs cricket. What is your motivation to play this W20 which is very demanding, and after the World Cup last year in England I think you had mentioned that maybe you might say goodbye, but you're still here, you're still fighting and you're still an inspiration to the younger players.
MITHALI RAJ: Well, I see that representing the country is the biggest motivation and inspiration no matter how many years you spend there wearing the India colors. But yes, when you also think that the team has gone through a lot of transition, and there are a lot of youngsters in the side, so at some point more than myself, whether I would be able to give the best or not, there are times when I think about the team, whether it is the right time to move forward, and I believe that now the team is settling, so it could probably be the last World Cup for me, the W20 format.

Q. You've got five new players on the team, five new coming into international cricket this year. How have they settled into this team? And looking to go one better than last year in the World Cup?
MITHALI RAJ: Well, they've got very good preparation and exposure coming from the South Africa tour where we played the T20s to the Tri-Series, the Asia Cup and the Sri Lanka, so there are four tournaments before the World Cup that they've not enough exposure about this format, and they are not the youngsters of the early 2000s where, you know, hardly in the matches for any player to get into the World Cup. They are much exposed to that pressure and those formats, and they know what their job is and their role in the team now, so they are pretty much very professional, talented youngsters.

Q. I know there's this talk about having IPL for women in India. Maybe India's success in this tournament can generate that for the future. Do you see this as part of the plan?
MITHALI RAJ: Well, I definitely see IPL in say a year or two definitely because a lot of people back at home do talk about women's IPL, but then it all boils down to the board and the franchises to come forward to get the setup going.

Q. Through Sri Lanka we saw the team very successfully using a one-sided field while bowling especially with the spinners. In the last couple of games we've seen batters challenge those, so the off spinners took a little bit of stick. What is the feeling within the group, within the bowling group as to whether that plan is --
MITHALI RAJ: See, that is bound to happen on a bigger stage because you are not playing just one team where, you know, Sri Lanka, yes, the wickets are different, and you know, the team is different. But when you come here, every match you have a different opener, you have a different wicket. So you plan accordingly, and the girls, the bowlers are developing that discipline as in like where the captain wants them to bowl, and they're trying to bowl in those areas. There are times where, you know, your plan may not work, but you should have two, three plans up your sleeve so you're not -- suddenly in the sea where the batters are playing some very good strokes and you don't know where to play. But I think they do realise from the first game the way the New Zealanders have approached to that 190 or the runs that we've put on the board, they do realise that it is important no matter how much total you put on the board, the bowlers need to do their job.

Q. Just another one on women's IPL; what's the hold-up? Why isn't there one now, or sooner than a year or two years?
MITHALI RAJ: Well, I don't sit in the BCCI office, so I don't know. But as a player I can only say that a lot of people show keen interest in women's IPL.

Q. But not enough to fast track it?
MITHALI RAJ: I cannot really comment because that's pretty much up to the BCCI to look into it. As a player I really have no inclination about it.

Q. But you would campaign to get it fast tracked?
MITHALI RAJ: Well, we've already discussed that with the BCCI a few months back when we had the IPL exhibition match, and it has been successful in terms of viewership, but after that, what's the follow-up, I have no idea, because we were preparing for ourselves for this World Cup.

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