Home ›› 13 Oct 2022 ›› Sport
The Thailand national women’s team have had an interesting connection with rain during the ongoing Asia Cup 2022 in Sylhet.
Their qualification for the semi-finals came after Bangladesh’s match against UAE was washed out, and on Wednesday, there were dark clouds for a long time but the rain only came pouring down after they left the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium.
For Thailand, this Asia Cup has been a fairy tale ride. They have not just qualified for the semis for the first time, they beat Pakistan on their way to the final four and proved their mettle with letter marks.
And today, they will take on the hot favourites of the tournament, India, in their battle to reach the final.
Ahead of the match, the Thai girls were in a good mood during their practice session on Wednesday morning as they laughed and cheered throughout.
After their training, The Business Post caught up with Thailand’s head coach Harshal Pathak to chat about their goals.
Pathak said they didn’t care who the opponent is, and wanted to win and reach the final, despite being on the receiving end of a bashing when the two sides met in the group stage.
“We will do our best to win the game (vs India). I can’t tell you the result, but our intent will be to win the game. It doesn’t matter who the opponent is. If my team’s intention is not to win, then what is the point of playing?” he told The Business Post.
In the group stage match, Thailand were bowled out for 37, and India chased it down with nine wickets in hand.
For many, Thailand qualifying for the semis was an upset, but Pathak said they believed even before the tournament started that they can make it to the final four.
“I will be honest with you. We never felt that it was impossible for us to reach the semis. Before coming into the tournament, we played really well. I just feel that if we would have bowled a bit better against Sri Lanka, our path to the semis would have been easier,” he said.
While Thailand have been outplayed in a few matches, they have also shown some impressive batting performances, especially against Pakistan, and Pathak said his goal was to make Thailand one of the best in the world.
“The brand we want to play is an aggressive brand of cricket. What I mean by the aggressive brand is that when you bat, you try to score as much as possible. When you are bowling, you are looking for wickets. During fielding, you try to attack the ball. That type of intent or urgency. That is what we want. We are creating a culture in Thailand. As a coach, my goal is to make Thailand one of the strongest batting units in the world,” the Thai head coach told The Business Post.
But like everything, the Indian coach understands that it will take time.
“This is my fourth year as the coach of Thailand. I knew we had talent. But we had to change the mental aspect. The mental approach had to be changed. It takes time. Because they have been used to playing in a certain way, and changing it is not easy. And I think it will take 2-3 years to change it,” he said.
While Thailand were in a jolly mood and hoped to qualify for the final, for India, there is no room to slip as they were expected to reach the final even before the tournament started.
Sneh Rana, who was the player of the match in the group stage clash between India and Thailand, said they will not take it easy despite the result in the group stage.
“It’s going to be a good game. We don’t think any opponent is easy. We are confident of reaching the final,” she said.
