After ODI World Cup triumph, Harmanpreet Kaur sets sights on T20 glory

MUMBAI: It’s a season of T20 cricket. While India’s men’s cricketers are playing in IPL 2026, the Indian women’s cricket team is currently in South Africa for a five-match T20I series (as per a source they arrived in SA in three batches, thanks to the West Asia crisis which has affected aviation big time) against the hosts, which starts at Kingsmead in Durban from Friday night. The series will serve as an ideal build-up for the 2026 T20 World Cup in June-July in England.

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Like in the case of the India men’s team, currently the world champions in T20 cricket, India’s women’s team is looking good in the shortest format too. In December last year, Harmanpreet Kaur & Co swept a five-match home series 5-0 against Sri Lanka in a dominant performance. In February this year, India beat Australia in a Women’s T20I series for the first time in a decade when they clinched a three-match T20I series 2-1 Down Under.

Indian women’s team captain Harmanpreet Kaur believes that her side is playing more confidently after its memorable 2025 Women’s ODI World Cup triumph in October-November last year, and is in a great place right now, going into the away T20I series against the Proteas, and more importantly, going into the T20 World Cup this summer.

“Yeah, definitely. I think after the (2025) ODI World Cup (triumph), our team is looking quite confident. Wherever we are going, we are going with a lot of confidence, and we have seen that, playing against Australia. Our team is looking in good shape. And before the (T20) World Cup, the South Africa series is very important for us. Hopefully, we will play our best cricket here as well. And I think it's a great opportunity for us before the (T20) World Cup to (make it) all come together and play our best cricket. We want to take this opportunity seriously and play good cricket over here,” Harmanpreet told reporters from Durban in an online press conference on Thursday, a day ahead of the opening T20I of the series.

Harmanpreeet is, of course, not taking South Africa, a team which has reached the final of the last two T20 World Cups, and lost to India in the final of the 2025 ODI World Cup to India, lightly.

“The South African team is quite a balanced side. They have very good players. They have good all-rounders who always come up when the team needs them. In the T20 format, you always need good all-rounders. I think that they have been playing really good cricket for the last four or five years.. every time reaching the finals and doing really well and playing good, competitive cricket,” Harman said.