It was with bated breath that the Indian cricket fans awaited for a triumphant end to the Indian women’s team campaign in the T20 World Cup as India took on Australia on International Women’s Day. They played before a jam-packed MCG grounds in Melbourne. Expectations rose after India stormed into the finals, winning four straight league matches in Group A. The semi-finals against England, was a wash out and catapulted India into the finals. However, a billion hearts broke as India succumbed to a 85-run defeat in a one-sided encounter.
Yes, it was an anti climax for India, but there were plenty of positive takeaways for the team, feels former Indian skipper and Bengaluru’s Shantha Rangaswamy, also a former National selector for the women’s cricket.
The veteran cricketer, stresses the need to take an overall view of the Indian performance and not judge by the final game alone. “Our girls could not carry the momentum into the final after such a brilliant display in the league. But, let us give them credit for their overall performance in the tournament. They beat Australia in the opening tie in the league. They could not repeat it in the final, but that is cricket. The Indian performance is sure to make a huge impact on youngsters and I am sure many more girls will now take up the sport in the country,” believes Shantha.
Referring to the final match, she states, “Winning of the toss would have made a difference and there would have been less pressure on our team. By allowing Australia to run up a total of 184, we faced a daunting task of scoring nine runs per over, which in women’s T20 game is a huge task. The team caved in when the top and middle order batting collapsed under pressure.”
Shantha, however, praised the Indian bowlers who were able to restrict rivals and bowl them out while defending a modest total in the league ties. “Our batswomen did not play to their potential, barring Shafali Verma,” feels Shantha.
The 16-year-old teenage sensation from Haryana, Shafali, was the find of the tournament. She scored 163 runs in five innings with an average of 32. 60. The opener’s explosive start gave India the edge in the league. Praising Shafali for her stunning performance, Shantha said, “She was brilliant and played with maturity beyond her age.”
Shantha expressed concern about the form of current Indian captain, Harmanpreet Kaur. “I feel Harman’s poor run with the bat has something to do with the pressure of captaincy. She is a free flowing bats-woman and I am surprised she failed to perform. I wish she focuses on her batting and Smriti Mandhana can take care of the captaincy.”
Shantha was elated with the wide media coverage for the women’s T20 event, especially the electronic media which gave them a prime time coverage. “A massive turnout of 85,000 for the final as reported in the media, is indeed an index of the growing popularity of the women’s game,” observes Shantha.
Painting a bright future for the game, Shantha is confident that there will be an IPL version for the women’s team too.
Shantha advocates a good feeder system for the women’s game. “BCCI is rolling out tournaments for Under-16 players and feels more youngsters could take up the game early. “It will create a large number of players and provide a wider base for the sport.”
