CWG 2022: Harmanpreet Kaur will lead India to the gold medal; everyone misses Mithali Raj, says India wicket-keeper batter Yastika Bhatia

Women's cricket is going to be played for the first time at the CWG and there is palpable excitement about this Tam Inia doing what the men's team in the 1998 edition in Kuala Lumpur couldn't - win a medal. Yastika, a 21-year-old middle order batter and wicket-keeper from Gujarat, is part of the India squad as the first-choice keeper and is confident that India will shine in their maiden women's cricket appearance at the Commonwealth Games. TimesofIndia.com caught up with Yastika, who has played one Test, 16 ODIs, and 5 T20Is for India so far, to talk about India's gold medal chances in the CWG, their group, receiving her debut cap from the legendary Mithali Raj, and much more...

PTI PhotoThe Indian women's cricket team is set to compete at their first Commonwealth Games. What, according to you, are the chances of winning a medal? I am pretty excited about the Commonwealth Games. We all attended a fitness camp recently. We are all prepared and ready for the event. Our squad is very strong. We are excited as this is our maiden CWG. This is a big opportunity for all of us to bring a gold medal for our country. We have not left a single stone unturned during practice or the net sessions. We are all super excited. Of course, we will go for the gold medal. We have a young squad and we are full of energy. We have been playing good cricket. Our captain Harmanpreet Kaur always leads from the front. I am confident she will take India to a gold medal win. India are in Group A alongside Pakistan, Australia and Barbados. The most amount of excitement of course is for the India vs Pak clash on July 31...It will be a very good match (India vs Pakistan). We can't take any team lightly. All the matches are important for us. We are