The BCCI might need been blamed up to now for the shortage of give attention to girls’s cricket and so they definitely must stroll the discuss however the issue goes past them. India can blame the misfortune of a no-ball in opposition to South Africa for his or her ouster, however additionally they contributed to their very own downfall.
Archaic batting templates, worrying variety of dot balls, frequent modifications within the enjoying XI, lack of athleticism and a few uninspiring captaincy meant the final version’s shedding finalists didn’t qualify for the semi-final stage.
Update: India’s marketing campaign within the #CWC22 involves an finish. South Africa wanted 1 off the ultimate ball and managed to attain the profitable run.
Details ️ https://t.co/BWw8yYwlOS#TeamIndia , #CWC22 , #INDvSA pic.twitter.com/1EoGNKtujO
— BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) March 27, 2022
Old template
Other prime groups like Australia, England and South Africa have moved on from the outdated method to white ball cricket. The Indian staff have stepped on to that path, however are shifting too slowly in the direction of enjoying this new model of cricket.
Sample their chase in opposition to New Zealand, who set a 261-run goal. India performed out 85 dot balls within the first 20 overs; all in all, they remained mute for 153 balls. Not that that is only a World-Cup aberration. Last June, they performed out 181 dot balls in a recreation in opposition to England. The alarm bells had been ringing but it surely seems nobody was listening.
Former captain Anjum Chopra reckons India lacks the ammunition and the experience in strike rotations. “Top groups have definitely moved on concerning big-hitting and strike rotations. In the case of India, my reply will likely be each Yes and No.
“Yes, as a result of we’re nonetheless making an attempt to get into that template, the place we will rating 280 plus persistently or chase down massive totals. We are nonetheless making an attempt to determine and be constant about reaching these scores whether or not batting or chasing,” Anjum Chopra advised The Indian Express.
“No, as a result of strike rotation and big-hitting has been the problem for a few years for India now. Big-hitting has barely improved, however that power-hitting within the final 5 and 7 overs continues to be lacking. I assume we’re nonetheless shifting slowly and steadily in the direction of the model of cricket,” she added of the glacial tempo of upgrading.
India will face South Africa on Sunday. (Twitter/ BCCI Women)
dot-ball downside
India’s largest nemesis on the World Cup was their sluggish method. Overall, they performed 1054 dot balls within the seven matches. In different phrases, they performed virtually three ODIs with out scoring a single run. Australia, essentially the most dominating aspect of the match, consumed 959 dot balls within the round-robin league, 95 fewer than India. Interestingly, with regards to power-hitting, India leads the six-hitting chart. Their batters struck 15 sixes, essentially the most within the match. But different scoring pictures had been discovered wanting.
Anjum, who was the commentator with the host broadcaster throughout the World Cup, feels that Indian batters must replace their expertise.
“The approach is straightforward. Reduce the dot ball percentage. The Indian team plays a lot of dot balls, and there is too much reliance on dead defense shots. I guess the few aspects on which Team India must work are rotation of strike, playing with soft hands, improving the running between the wickets, dropping the ball, and running for a quick single. These skills have to be practiced and learned very seriously. The Indian team has stroke players, but they cannot rotate strike at will. That skill has to be included whether they are setting the target or chasing,” mentioned Anjum.
Sneh Rana of India celebrates. (AP/PTI)
Lack of athleticism
India’s floor fielding all through the occasion was removed from spectacular. They fumbled and dropped regulation possibilities. There was room for enchancment in working between the wicket too. Senior batters had been struggling to run twos and threes. Shafali Verma’s run out within the essential match in opposition to South Africa highlighted the issue.
“Look, the Indian staff is clearly engaged on the health side. It just isn’t that they’re unfit gamers, however health and fielding are one thing you may at all times work on. Even if you’re tremendous match and a gun fielder, there’s at all times a scope for enchancment, sky is the restrict, and there’s no benchmark. Every participant has to enhance individually, and the outcomes will likely be on the market on the park,” mentioned Anjum.
Back-to-back defeats in opposition to England and Australia doesn’t bode nicely for India Women. (Twitter/BCCI Domestic)
Did they miss Jemimah, Pandey?
The omission of Jemimah Rodrigues and skilled pacer Shikha Pandey from the World Cup has raised eyebrows. But they had been ignored as a consequence of their lack of type. Jemimah misplaced her place within the ODI aspect after a poor run in England in July, and whereas her stellar efficiency within the Hundred helped her make a comeback within the shortest format, it wasn’t sufficient to guide a spot on the World Cup.
“I nonetheless really feel Jemi ought to have been right here even when not in 15, then in 18 for certain, however having mentioned that, I do not assume she would have discovered a spot within the enjoying eleven. Yastika Bhatia completely grabbed the chance whereas batting at 3. Same goes for Shikha. She would have been positively an excellent addition if she had been in the most effective type, bowling alongside Jhulan Goswami. You by no means know, the expertise of Jhulan, which was lacking within the match and possibly the expertise of Shikha may have are available in. But for that, it’s important to drop Meghna Singh, who has achieved nicely within the final 5 – seven months,” she mentioned.
On Poonam Yadav’s lack of recreation time, Anjum mentioned: “The Indian team was happy with the three regular spinners (Sneh Rana, Deepti Sharma and Rajeshwari Gayakwad), and for Poonam Yadav to come in, they had to drop a bowler or an all -rounder, but that would have changed India’s balance.”
Shafali Verma is particular – 4,0,2,4,4,4 in final 6 balls. #CWC22 pic.twitter.com/bdU26UVkkC
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) March 27, 2022
Dropping Shafali
Before the match, Indian captain Mithali Raj was all reward for Verma. Although the flamboyant batter was going via a lean run, she is somebody who can change the course of the sport in a couple of overs. Shafali was dropped for 3 straight video games after her failure within the opening match in opposition to Pakistan. She confirmed a glimpse of her excellence in opposition to South Africa and the way she toyed with Shabnim Ismail, the match’s quickest bowler.
“Dropping Shafali Verma after the first match was absolutely not justified. It was a high-pressure game for a youngster coming in and playing her first World Cup. You can expect a false shot coming from a player but dropping Shafali and not backing her throughout the World Cup sends out a wrong signal. If team management is dropping any player, it gives you the signal that you are out of form and the team is looking beyond you,” says Anjum.
!@mandhana_smriti shares her Player of the Match award with fellow centurion & #TeamIndia vice-captain @ImHarmanpreet , #CWC22 , #WIvIND
Scorecard ️ https://t.co/ZOIa3KL56d pic.twitter.com/8REiQMSLke
— BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) March 12, 2022
Not utilizing Harmanpreet’s bowling
Harmanpreet scored 318 runs within the match and was the second-highest run-getter for India after opener Mandhana (327 runs). But surprisingly, she did not bowl till the final recreation in opposition to South Africa.
The India vice-captain offered India with the much-needed breakthrough with the wicket of the match’s main run-scorer Laura Wolvaardt, and later she trapped South African skipper Sune Luus.
“Harmanpreet not bowling was another mystery. Why was Harmanpreet not used throughout the tournament? Even against South Africa, when all the resources were exhausted then, she was thrown the ball, and there again, she bowled eight overs. I wish she could have bowled her full quota, and who knows, the Indian team might have ended up on a winning side. She was under bowled. It was like under utilization of their quality resources by the Indian team,” lamented Anjum.
The coach conundrum
It has been musical chairs with regards to the coaches. Four coaches have been modified up to now 5 years.
Former Baroda cricketer Tushar Arothe, who led the staff to the ultimate within the 2017 World Cup, stepped down a yr later, 5 months previous to the Women’s World T20. One of the explanations for the alleged discord was Arothe’s coaching strategies.
Two obligatory observe periods of roughly two and a half hours every within the morning and late afternoon and an non-obligatory afternoon session strained the connection between the coach and senior gamers. BCCI acquired complaints from senior gamers, particularly T20 skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, about his coaching strategies.
Ramesh Powar, the present coach of the Indian girls’s staff, changed Arothe in August 2018. Just a few months later, Powar was sacked from the identical place following a fallout with Mithali.
In flip, Mithali had then accused the previous India cricketer of bias after the Harmanpreet-led T20 staff dropped the veteran batter for the all-important World Cup semi-final in opposition to England.
In December 2018, former India opener WV Raman was appointed head coach. During his stint, India completed runners-up on the T20 World Cup in 2020.
In May 2021, in a shocking transfer because the staff seemingly did nicely underneath him, Raman was not retained as the pinnacle coach of the senior girls’s staff by the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC), which picked Ramesh Powar for the job.
Going ahead
The World Cup exit could also be a bitter capsule to swallow, and there may be modifications within the teaching workers with the T20 World Cup scheduled to be performed in South Africa subsequent yr from February 9 to 26. A full-fledged girls’s IPL from subsequent yr is a risk, and it might probably result in a radical shift in girls’s cricket.
However, Anjum sees it in another way. For her, the current needs to be sorted first earlier than desirous about the longer term. “The present is absolutely essential. There is a T20 World Cup scheduled to be played next year; I am eagerly looking to see how this Indian team will go forward with new support staff and coaches coming in,” she signed off. If the current is uncared for, what hope lies for the longer term?
,
With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
