'Excited to get back on the field' - Phoebe Litchfield green signals on featuring against Sri Lanka

Six-time T20 World Cup champions, Australia Women, enter the ninth edition of the event as the defending champions. Australia are placed in Group A along with India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and New Zealand. They played two warm-up games against England and West Indies, and the one name missing from the playing eleven was that of Phoebe Litchfield.

Litchfield is one of the key players of the Australian team and she sat out of the warm-up fixtures due to groin soreness. Australia will play their inaugural game of the tournament against Sri Lanka at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on October 5. To add further strength to the squad, Litchfield has said that she will feature against Sri Lanka contrary to previous belief otherwise. 

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“It’s been tough missing the practice games, but I’m feeling good now. I’m excited to get back on the field and contribute to the team. For me, it’s about staying in the moment and understanding the conditions as quickly as possible. Sharjah is going to be a challenge, but we’re ready for it,” said Litchfield as quoted by News18.

A kind of wicket where you need time to settle: Nigar Sultana 

The Sharjah pitch has shown slowness and spinning features in the early games of the tournament. It is worth noting that Australia have never played a game at the venue and they could not train ahead of their inaugural fixture. The first game of the tournament between Bangladesh and Scotland saw the former post 119 runs batting first.

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“It was a kind of wicket where you need time to settle, Shathi and Mostary managed to do that. The conditions were pretty hot and we ran a lot of twos. Hopefully the wicket remains like this and our spinners will come into play,” said Bangladesh captain, Nigar Sultana after the game.