India Skipper Niki Prasad Aims to Defend U19 Women’s T20 World Cup Title

Focus on Winning and Making India Proud

New Delhi: India’s U19 Women’s T20 World Cup captain, Niki Prasad, has made it clear that the team’s primary goal is to win the 2025 U19 Women’s T20 World Cup and successfully defend the title they won in 2023 under Shafali Verma’s leadership. India, the defending champions, are entering the tournament in Malaysia with strong momentum, having clinched the inaugural U19 Women’s Asia Cup in the same country last month.

“The objective is very clear. To win this tournament and successfully defend the title which India won in the previous edition. It also happened to be the first edition of the U19 Women’s T20 World Cup. We are here to play a brand of cricket that will help us win the trophy and make our country and supporters proud,” said Niki in an ICC statement.

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England Aiming for Glory in 2025

England, the runners-up from the 2023 edition, are looking to take the next step and win the 2025 title. Captain Abi Norgrave expressed her team’s determination to maintain a positive mindset throughout the competition, embracing every opportunity to maximize their experience. “As a team, we are looking to play with positive intent throughout the competition, along with enjoying the ride and taking every opportunity that is thrown at us to maximize the experience and obviously with the intent to win!” she said.

Australia’s Challenge to Overcome Diverse Conditions

Australia, the 2023 semifinalists, are focused on adapting to a variety of conditions in the tournament. Captain Lucy Hamilton mentioned the team’s experience competing in two tri-series in Sri Lanka and Brisbane as part of their preparation. “The team has taken these opportunities as a great learning experience to prepare us for Malaysia. The team’s overall objective for this tournament is to do one better, make the World Cup final, and come home with the trophy,” she said.

Bangladesh Ready to Embrace Malaysia

Bangladesh’s captain Sumaiya Akter, who led the team to a runners-up finish in the U19 Women’s Asia Cup, is excited to return to Malaysia for the World Cup. “We are very much excited to play in Malaysia for the U19 Women’s T20 World Cup. We played the Asia Cup over here and we explored the fine culture of Malaysia. We really enjoyed the diversity of culture and food over here,” Akter said.

Sri Lanka Prepared for a Strong Performance

Sri Lanka’s captain Manudi Nanayakkara, who guided her team to the semifinals of the Asia Cup, expressed confidence in her squad’s preparations. “We have done our homework. We are coming just after playing the U19 Women’s Asia Cup, which gave us good exposure. Before coming here, we played a few games against Bangladesh U19, which adds muscle to our preparations,” Nanayakkara said.

New Zealand Aims for Growth and Development

New Zealand, another semifinalist from 2023, has its eyes set on success in 2025. Captain Tash Wakelin emphasized the importance of experience and development in the tournament. “Everyone is aiming for the same thing of trying to progress as far through the tournament as possible. However, as we are all still so young and continuing to grow and develop our individual games, experience, and knowledge gained from this opportunity is invaluable,” Wakelin said.

“If we can all leave the tournament knowing we gave it our all as well as a better understanding of our own games and stronger motivation and aspirations of wanting to play cricket at the highest level, then we can feel a strong sense of achievement within ourselves and as a group,” she added.