My motive is to give the players freedom to express themselves: Harmanpreet Kaur

India's new ODI captain Harmanpreet Kaur whose side recently won the T20I series 2-1. Harmanpreet takes over the captaincy across all formats after Mithali Raj hung up her boots and the new Indian skipper, who was earlier just in charge of the T20I side, feels that leading the side across all formats would be a massive advantage 

"When I'm leading, I feel I am more involved in the game. It always gives me a lot of confidence. Captaincy is something that comes naturally to me when I'm on the field. Over time, when you have a lot of years of leading [the team], things get easier. Right now, I don't feel extra pressure on me," she said ahead of the first ODI.

She added that the players could express themselves with freedom, and she feels that can help improve the side. 

"If I enjoy as captain, the rest of the group will also feel they can enjoy the moment. That's what I've been discussing in team meetings. I feel I'm free to do what I want to do now. When you give players the freedom, you can improve more. That is my motive, to give the players freedom to express themselves,"

When asked about her goals, the skipper said that in the coming time, the focus would be on improving fitness and fielding.

"I have always set a few goals for myself when I lead the team, especially the fitness part. For a player, that's very important. In terms of skills, we have coaches to help us out, but if we can set a goal for the team in terms of fitness and if others get motivated by me, then it will be good for the team,” 

“As a player, I always want to set an example on that front. Fitness and fielding are the two areas that I want my team to improve. If you can cover these two areas well, then you are the best side," she said. 

After the current ODI series, the Indian Women's team will be seen in action in the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, followed by a series against England and then T20 World Cup next year in South Africa.