Women's T20 World Cup 2024: Australia skipper Alyssa Healy is quite aware of the challenging group that Australia is part of for the 2024 Women's T20 World Cup. The defending champions have been put in Group A, which has teams like India, New Zealand, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.
The Alyssa Healy-led side will face India, who are being considered the favorites to win the trophy this time, and Sri Lanka, who defeated the Women in Blue in the summit clash of the Women's Asia Cup earlier this year.
Talking about the mega-event, Healy reckoned that Australia are entering this tournament to lift the title and not defend it thus revealing their mindset after Meg Lanning's retirement, who hung up her boots at the age of 31 years.
"You don't come here to defend the title, that's not what the World Cup is about, you come here to win it. So we are here with that approach. Our pool [Group A with India, New Zealand, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka] is quite a tricky one. We've got to get past these teams to have a chance of lifting the trophy. So it's a challenge I'm very excited for," Healy was quoted as saying on ESPNCricinfo.
There are not a lot of women cricketers who have played the sport in the UAE. Healy has reckoned that whichever team adjusts to these conditions in the best possible way in this mega-event can easily lift the coveted title.
"The whole tournament, in general, is about adapting the quickest. That seems to be the way. If you look at the warm-up games, [it showed] you've got to adapt pretty quickly to what you're given. Probably the team that does the best throughout the tournament will get the job done. We feel like we're well placed to do that and hopefully, we can do it," she revealed.
Australia is one of the most consistent teams in the history of the tournament as they have lifted the title four of the five titles. They couldn't win it in the 2016 edition and were the finalists as West Indies went on to lift the trophy that year. Healy admitted that they do have a target on their mind and that's how the players were motivated to perform better.
"It feels like, without being disrespectful, we have been hunted for a long period. We're constantly being asked about that, and we're used to it now. Teams are coming hard at us to put us under the pump which we love. This World Cup is going to be no different. We know what the other nine are going to throw at us given the opportunity. We see it as a challenge and an opportunity to showcase a brand of cricket we like playing," she concluded.