Raipur, Oct 18 (IANS) India youngster Niki Prasad called that she was dreaming of making her debut for India as she put up a stellar performance with the bat against Zimbabwe during the first T20I against Zimbabwe at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium here.

Prasad spoke to the broadcasters ahead of the second T20I in Raipur on Sunday as she was asked about her journey from leading the India U19 side winning the T20 World Cup 2025 to making a strong debut for the senior side a couple of days ago.

Prasad, who made an unbeaten 39 from 35 balls on her debut, was pleased with her performance in the opening match of the series. “Definitely that innings has given me a lot of confidence, and going forward, whatever opportunity I am put under, I think I’m just going to stick to my basics and play to the merit of the ball,” Prasad told broadcasters ahead of the second match.

She was asked about her journey and how she is preparing herself mentally for the next stage of her career. “You know, I was just dreaming for this day, and the preparation for this journey was quite hard, and I think that hard work has paid off, and I just want to grow from here,” the 20-year-old added.

Prasad has been part of the Delhi Capitals squad for two seasons and has shown glimpses of her talent. She credited the WPL and India A games helping her in dealing with tough match situations. “I think these franchise games and also the India A games, whatever BCCI organised for us, I think that has given me more confidence because I was already put under pressure in those games. So I think it feels quite similar here.

With India 1-0 up, the hosts have a chance to wrap the series up with one match to go. India were tested hard in the first match as they lost their top four batters for single-digit scores. Prasad stated that the team’s batting group looks to keep things as simple as possible in the second game.

“I think it’s pretty simple to just stick to our strengths and just execute our plans even better when we are batting,” she stated.

India were asked to bowl first by Zimbabwe in the second T20I. Both the teams went unchanged as India have a chance to wrap up the series early with the third T20I scheduled to take place on Tuesday.

–IANS

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