Indian spinner Poonam Yadav in her interview to PTI said that there is no clarity about India’s next series due to COVID19 pandemic.
India was scheduled to play in a series in England in June. However, due to pandemic, the series was postponed and converted to tri-series along with South Africa.
Read: https://penbugs.com/india-will-not-participate-in-tri-series-confirms-clare-connor/
Now, due to increasing cases, India pulled out of the series which will go ahead as a bilateral between South Africa and England.
Talking about the next edition of World Cup, Poonam Yadav said that it will be a massive challenge.
“It is a massive challenge. I have been bowling here but it is totally different in a competitive environment. We last played in March and there is still no clarity over our next series,” said Yadav, who has featured in one Test, 46 ODIs and 67 T20s.
She also added that it will be difficult for the team to adapt immediately after not playing for months.
“If you turn up at the ground after four-five months, it will be very difficult to perform instantly for all players,” Poonam told. “But we are keeping ourselves fit and when we are allowed to resume group training, we should be back to full fitness in 20-25 days.”
Yadav also added that if the World Cup go ahead as scheduled then she has a lot to work on.
“If the Word Cup happens as scheduled, there is hardly anytime left. I plan to start working on a few variations, like working on a flipper and top-spin. Flipper is much tougher and it will take me at least three-four months to perfect the ball.”
However, the Indian spinner is looking at the bright side of the lockdown. She said that she had done many things during this lockdown and was able to spend more time with family.
“There are many things I have done in this phase that otherwise I didn’t have time for. Spending time with family, watching TV (mainly Mahabharat and Ramayan),” she said. I can cook now, my mother always wanted me to learn that. I had never cooked anything other than chai and Maggi but thanks to the lockdown, I can make a few more. The first two months of lockdown I did not do anything, but then, I was like I have to help my mother now that I have the time.”
Yadav was one of the cricketers who were a part of both 2017 World Cup final as well as 2019 World cup T20 final. Acknowledging the loss in the recently concluded World Cup, Yadav said that Australia handled pressure better than India in the final.
“After doing so well in knock-outs, we start thinking about the result and what we will do after (we win) rather than staying in the present and following the process like we do it in the earlier stages of the tournament. It is all about handling pressure in the big games and whoever does it better wins. Australia handled it much better than us (in T20 WC final).”
