Preview: USA

Americas World Cup Qualifiers

ICC Ranking: 31
Captain: Sindhu Sriharsha

Team USA has been gearing up for this tournament for quite some time with domestic regional and zonal competitions. They made one very special addition to the team, Head Coach Julia Price, former Test and ODI player for Australia. Importantly it was Price who put the Hobart Hurricanes WBBL team on the map both as player and coach.

The team ranks 31 with the ICC and has won four of their eight matches since gaining T20 International status in July 2018. Their last match was in September 2019 when they defeated Namibia by six wickets. Captain of that team is the current skipper, Sindhu Sriharsha, who also keeps wickets.

I asked the coach what the biggest challenges were for the team coming into this tournament.

Biggest hurdle is a hard one as we had some really close games with Canada back in our American regionals in 2019.  But Brazil are ranked higher than us and Argentina have been improving enormously over the last couple of years.  It’s a tough one.  Basically we need to win all our games!”

Are there any key players we need to keep an eye out for?

Sindhu Sriharsha our captain has had a real desire to show she is a world class player after a lacklustre performance at the World Cup qualifiers in 2019.  Couple of our new players in 15 year old Anika Kolan with the bat and Suhani Thadani with bowl will be out to impress.

What will win the comp for the US? Outstanding fielding? Accurate bowling? A collective spirit/determination? What key factor will win it?

I think our batting has really moved to a new level.   Good intent combined with power and technique has been a real focus for us.   Our bowling also has some good variety about so hoping we have covered all our bases there! Improved performances around strike rates, scoring shot %, dot balls and reducing extras.   If we do this we should be winning most games!

The full squad:

Sindhu Sriharsha (captain), Shebani Bhaskar (vice-captain), Akshatha Rao, Anika Kolan, Chetnaa Prasad, Gargi Bhogle, Geetika Kodali, Holly Charles, Isani Vaghela, Laasya Mullapudi, Moksha Chaudhary, Sara Farooq, Suhani Thadani, Tara Norris, Uzma Iftikar

We wish Team USA all the very best. Their first match is against Brazil. Matches will be covered on ICC TV.