Unwilling to divulge much about the Indian women’s cricket team’s preparations for the T20 World Cup next month, vice-captain Smriti Mandhana on Tuesday said all she can reveal is that the players are in good shape for the 12-team tournament.The women’s T20 World Cup will be played in England and Wales from June 12 with ODI World Cup winners India set to take on arch-rivals Pakistan in their tournament-opener on June 14.”The camp has gone well and I would like to keep it at that. I would not like to say any specifics of what we have worked on because we are heading to a World Cup,” Mandhana said at a press conference organised by feminine care brand Pee Safe here.”But what I would say is that all the girls are looking in good shape, they have been practising really well and a lot of hard work has gone behind it,” she added.The 15-member Indian squad underwent a training camp at the Centre of Excellence (COE) in Bengaluru and is set to depart for England on May 22 for a three-match T20I series against the hosts before the World Cup.”We are prepping for the World Cup and we will leave for a series before it. The preparations have been going well and I hope that we keep working hard and make India proud and bring the cup back home,” Mandhana said.Mandhana, who also interacted with school-going children here, said it is important for younger generation to know that there are career opportunities in sports.”The questions that they ask at that age, I would not (have) known what they are asking. They really want to know what we go through which is extremely nice,” Mandhana said.”For me it’s very important to give them a message firstly how sports and cricket have a career and you can actually make a career out of it.”The other important thing for me which I try and tell is to enjoy the process and what they do…I just really want all the kids to enjoy and follow their passion so that’s one message that I give to the young kids,” she added.


