Girls in Blue take stage first

Right mix

Their skipper for one is certainly excited about both the seasoned and the new faces in her dressing-room. And Raj's confident that they are set to create a significant impact.

"India never had a very good opening pair. This time we have Thirush Kamini who has made a comeback, while Poonam Raut too has been in consistent form. In both the practice games, the openers have done really well and given us a good start," she said.

The Indian squad is among the oldest in the competition with an average age closer to 30 and with a number of them into their second and third World Cups. And this will be the last chance for the likes of wicket-keeper Sulakshana Naik, Reema Malhotra, and probably even Raj and Goswami.

"We have some amazing, talented cricketers like Harmanpreet Kaur who has been very consistent with the bat. We have Poonam Raut, Thirush Kamini, and we have wicket-keeper Karuna Jain who is making a comeback after the 2009 World Cup. We have Niranjana (Nagarajan), who has done very well with the ball. And then we have Rasanara (Parwin) who is a very young girl and a talented off-spinner," explained Raj.

The Merissa Aguilleira-led West Indian outfit are an intimidating proposition, especially considering how far the boundary ropes have been brought in at the CCI, in a not too subtle way to promote more stroke-play.

And while the next two weeks could prove to be life-changing for the likes of Raut, Kamini and Kaur, it will once again be the two old-hands who will have to fire if Team India have to make themselves heard and noticed.

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