“All of us will be backing Jhulan and Mithali” – Sachin Tendulkar wishes Team India ahead of 2022 World Cup

Legendary Indian batter Sachin Tendulkar has shown support for the Indian Women’s Cricket team ahead of the upcoming ICC ODI World Cup, which will be held in New Zealand in March.

The World Cup will be the last multinational event for India’s senior-most players Jhulan Goswami and Mithali Raj. The duo, however, have failed to win the coveted trophy over the span of their lengthy careers. This year's World Cup will be their last chance to achieve World Cup glory.

Speaking to Boria Majumdar for Women’s CricZone and RevSportz, Sachin said:

“All of us will be backing both Jhulan as well as Mithali. I know that it is going to be their last World Cup. For the rest of the team, there are a number of cricketing years [left]. So I want to wish them all the very best.”

The team has some impressive players in Smriti Mandhana, Harmanpreet Kaur, and Shafali Verma. Tendulkar believes that the team has the ability to win the tournament. He also mentioned that Raj and Goswami should not lose hope of winnings the World Cup after waiting for 22 years. Tendulkar said:

“22 years is a long time. But never lose hope. There is always a new tournament, a new day, a new match. If you don’t lose hope, at some stage you will conquer it. And this is [their] moment."

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“The 1.3 billion people with you are a formidable force” – Sachin Tendulkar on Indian fans

Sachin Tendulkar also spoke about the fan following that the Indian team has and shared an experience from the 2011 World Cup. The tournament in 2011 was a home event for India and the crowd would leave no stone unturned in wishing the Indian team wherever they found them. Tendulkar said:

“It’s going to be a home World Cup, we are the hosts. Wherever we go, there is going to be a lot of following. It’s not just on the field. In the hotel, in the aircraft or a bus driver will tell you, 'Aaj jeetna hai [We have to win today]'.”

He continued:

“The solution to this is to always believe that these guys are with you. They are not sitting on the top of your head. The 1.3 billion people with you are a formidable force. The direction of pressure has to be for moving forward and not on top of your head. If it’s on top of your head, you will sink.”

Tendulkar also added that there will be ups and downs in such a big tournament and said:

“There are going to be ups and downs. At the 2011 World Cup as well, there were ups and downs. But we as a team believed that we could lift this trophy. And that is my message to the women’s team.”

India’s World Cup campaign starts with a match-up against arch-rivals Pakistan on March 6. However, they will play a five-match ODI series against New Zealand in February.