India kicks off World T20 campaign against Australia today - let’s cheer our women in blue
The Indian side will look to bank on its heavy-hitters and hope to patch up recent inconsistencies in the quest for the World T20 ICC trophy.
The Indian women’s cricket team will begin its World T20 campaign today against formidable hosts Australia in Sydney.
In the run up to the tournament, the Indian side played one out of their two warm-up games against West Indies. Its first warm up against Pakistan was washed out due to heavy rain. However, in the one-off warm up game the Indian side overcame West Indies in a low scoring game, which served as a morale booster if not as a test of their preparedness for big games.
The Indian team will take on Australia in the first match of the tournament.
In its elusive hunt for ICC silverware, India will hope to get to the final stages of the tournament. It has an experienced and hard-hitting batting line-up, with the likes of Harmanpreet and batting prodigy Shafali Verma and the experience of Smriti Mandhana and Jemimah right at the top.
However, the batters have not had a great time Down Under. In the tri-series against Australia and England, none of the them managed to achieve significant scores and that is a worrying sign for a team that is capable of high achievement.
Former India captain and member of Committee of Administrators Diana Edulji believes the team will have to learn from the repeated mistakes it is making at the moment to end its ICC title drought in this tournament.
“If they play like the way they are playing, they will make the semifinals again (at T20 World Cup) but I don't see them winning the trophy," Diana told PTI shortly after India's loss in the tri-series finals against Australia.
India lost the finals chasing 155 runs. The team collapsed to 144 all out after sitting comfortably at 115 for three in the 15th over.
The women in blue have not been able to cross the finish line in crucial matches after being in a comfortable position for most part of the game, like the 2017 World Cup Finals against England.
Diana suggests that the team might benefit from mental strengthening courses to give them an added push to get hold of the trophy. In the shortest format of the game, mental ability can count more than batting prowess when it comes to handling pressure in crunch situations.
The current side is banking on its batters to take them over the line down under. The top order is filled with hitters, however, the middle order has not performed at par when the top order has failed. The batters in the middle have not been able to take the team to the win from comfortable positions, a problem the team has faced in major tournaments.
The bowling unit is packed with spinners and has only three pacers - Shikha Pandey, Pooja Vastrakar and Arundhati Reddy. Harmanpreet Kaur is confident India’s spinners who have risen to the occasion in the past, will help the team crack the opposition. The first game against the Australians will be a testing ground for spinners to establish their tone for the tournament on the pace-friendly Australian pitches.
The Indians enter the tournament as favourites. With hard-hitting talents like Shafali Verma, who is playing her first ICC tournament and Harmanpreet, batting fireworks are expected . The team looks strong on paper and each game will have to produce a superstar for India to reach their dreams of taking home the ICC trophy.
In their quest for glory, India who are in Group A will face the toughest competition from four-time champions Australia, who are also the favourites to win the trophy. England will be their next strongest opponent, however, India has the mental advantage of defeating them in a tri-series. New Zealand who feature in the top four teams of the tournament are also in Group A and will be a tough opponent with their balanced batting and bowling efforts. However, Sri Lanka who just outclassed England in the warm-ups are the underdogs to watch out for in the group.
Meanwhile, let’s cheer the women in blue for their sheer sense of spirit, optimism and the ability to perform, even if the odds are against them.
(Edited by Rekha Balakrishnan)