Dubai, Sep 25 (IANS) England skipper Nat Sciver-Brunt believes that the upcoming ODI World Cup will be a changer for women’s cricket. She also shared her excitement about playing in India and her feelings about captaining her team for the first time in a World Cup.

Writing in her column for the ICC, Sciver-Brunt mentioned how special it is to play in India and how the upcoming World Cup will bring about a change in the country, as well as the sport overall.

“There’s nothing quite like playing cricket in India. It really is special. And it’s even more special when it’s a World Cup. I’ve been lucky enough to play quite a lot of cricket in India but I think World Cup cricket – especially with the prospect of passionate home support for India – is truly next level,” she wrote.

“Whether we’re there or not, you do get the feeling this could be a seismic moment for the women’s game. If you think about India getting over the line in a close game, with all the noise and drama and excitement that it could bring, I think you begin to get a sense of what this competition could do for women’s cricket in India.

“I’ve seen that growth in the WPL, but a World Cup is something else. I hope whatever outcome we see, we see that. I think we’ll all look back on our careers when we’re retired and mark the World Cup in India as a game-changer,” she added.

The 33-year-old will be leading England at a World Cup for the first time after taking over the captaincy reins from Heather Knight earlier this year. Relatively new to the role, Sciver-Brunt said that she has enjoyed working alongside Charlotte Edwards and considers the opportunity to lead her team an honour.

“I don’t feel it’s something you think about growing up because all you can dream about is representing your country at all but it’s an honour – and one I’m quite humbled by. I’ve had a taste of the job with the West Indies and India series this summer and it was really enjoyable to work alongside Lottie (Charlotte Edwards) and to begin to shape how we want our team to play.

“There are a number of important things for us as we set about building our team for this competition and for next summer’s ICC Women’s T20 World Cup on home soil but ultimately it comes back to winning. That’s our job, that’s our focus,” she wrote.

Sciver-Brunt believes that the competition and rivalry between teams in World Cup events keeps increasing, and that the English side will not be taking any opponent lightly as they look to perform well on the world stage. She further stated, “The outcome of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup last year shows you that the margins between the teams are not always as big as people might think. I believe we’ve got a good mix of players who’ve been there and done it before and players for whom this is all very new and exciting.

“There’s a huge amount of talent in this group and we’ve got a coach who knows exactly what it takes to win a World Cup. The job now is to put that all together on the pitch, to win the big moments and to step up when the pressure’s on to take us as far as we can possibly go.”

Four-time champions England will face South Africa in their campaign opener on October 3 in Guwahati after taking on India and Australia in warm-up games in the build-up to the tournament.

— IANS

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