Mita Paul, the joint winner of the “Cricket Association of Bengal Women Cricketer of the Year” award and the current Bengal Senior Women’s team captain, wants to take her game to a new level to knock on the doors of the national team. Although Bengal reached the final of the senior women’s T20 tournament last season under her leadership, Mita wants to improve a lot as a player to reach a higher level. Right after winning her award, Mita shared her thoughts with Sportz Point in an exclusive interview.
Mita first thanked everyone from Cricket Association of Bengal and the team right from team’s physio to the coach and teammates for helping her winning the CAB Women Cricketer of the Year jointly with Dhara Gujjar, her deputy. “Thank you to each and everyone at CAB for this prestigious award. Thanks to everyone in my team, from the physio to the coach and the players. Without their help, I would not have won this award,” Mita told Sportz Point.
“I should have done more with the bat:” Mita Paul on her last season’s performance
Mita has been playing for the senior Bengal team since the 2017-18 season and is considered one of the best all-rounders in Bengal at the moment. The right-handed batter and right-arm off-spinner had a good season with the ball but could not perform the way she would loved to with the bat. “This award would motivate me to do well in the next season. If I talk about my last season, individually, I did well with the ball but I felt that I should have done more with the bat,” Mita added.
“As the captain of the team and one of the senior players now, I feel that I need to contribute more than anyone with the bat and ball. This is my responsibility. I am getting ready for the next season and working on the mistakes that I made last season,” she expressed.
With the game evolving, Mita feels that she needs to do some really special things to reach where she wants to reach as a cricketer. Last season, Mita missed out on the Women’s Premier League auction. She feels that she needs to up her game a bit and be more attacking to be at the level of international players who played in the inaugural season of the Women’s Premier League.
“You need to be a unique player to play at the level of WPL:” Mita Paul
Moreover, she also agreed with the fact that, with the Women’s Premier League, anyone can get into the National team’s scheme as that is a great platform to showcase talent. Keeping that in mind, Mita is adding a few more shots to her game to surprise opponent bowlers and dominate them in a more attacking mode.
“Look, now I feel that you need to be a unique player to play at the level of WPL or international cricket. So, you can not just score a fifty in fifty balls now. You need to play at a better strike rate and probably score a fifty in less than thirty balls or less.”
“The women’s game has changed a lot in the last few years. So, I have to evolve as well keeping my natural game in balance. I am constantly trying to add a few shots to my game so that each and every time I bat, I can surprise my opponent and dominate them,” Mita told Sportz Point.
“Want to turn that runner-up medal into a winner’s medal”
But firstly, just like her deputy and joint CAB Women’s Cricketer of the year Dhara Gujjar, Mita wants to turn last year’s runner-up medal into a winner’s medal. “But firstly, I have the goal to bring more trophies to Bengal. I want to turn the runner-up medal into a winner’s medal. This is the first thing I want to achieve when the season starts.”
Bengal Senior Women’s will travel to Maharashtra to prepare for the upcoming season.
