Women in Blue need quick relief after World Cup disappointment

The team regarded to have heralded a new era in Indian men's cricket was unique because it broke away from the tradition of relying excessively on spinners.
Sneh Rana celebrates after Richa Ghosh takes catch to dismiss Nashra Sandhu of Pakistan during the women's world cup cricket match between India and Pakistan at Bay Oval in New Zealand. (Photo| AP)
Sneh Rana celebrates after Richa Ghosh takes catch to dismiss Nashra Sandhu of Pakistan during the women's world cup cricket match between India and Pakistan at Bay Oval in New Zealand. (Photo| AP)

NEW DELHI: A fourth successive knockout berth in ICC events denied because someone crossed the line by the thinnest of margins. It rankles.

The Indian women's team was expected to make the semifinals of this 50-over World Cup because they were consistently making the cut since finishing runners-up in the 2017 edition of the competition. The run included the 2018 and 2020 T20 World Cups. And at least on paper, the teams led by Mithali Raj and Harmanpreet Kaur are better looked after by their board than teams from South Africa and the West Indies, which finished ahead of India in the ongoing event in New Zealand.

The inability of batters to convert starts in the last game hurt India. Sides that win titles or qualify for knockouts of big events have someone or the other to carry the innings in crunch games. Three got half-centuries against South Africa. None of them stuck around for as long as the team required them to. Runs dried up in the slog overs and they ended up a good 20 short of what they had looked like getting. Fielding has been a problem for Indian women and good efforts continue to be exceptions rather than the norm. That hurt them too.

However, when the team management and the selectors start planning for the future, attention must be paid to an area they seldom have. The women's team does not have fast bowlers and medium-pacers. The towering exception of Jhulan Goswami apart, there is no one who can be reckoned as a force in international cricket. With Jhulan in the sunset of her career, there is nobody in sight who can be relied upon in this crucial department. Mithali & Co had two in the last game - Pooja Vastrakar and Meghna Singh. Neither got more than six overs because they were below par in those.

The closer the game got, the more spinners were pressed into action. After two productive overs, the South Africans kept ticking them away for singles. Twenty or thereabouts needed in the last three overs, there were no fours or sixes. Everything was run, in ones and twos. You have seen teams bring quicker bowlers back in similar situations in one-day games. That's because they are expected to have the ability to hurry the batters, slip in a wider one down off, push one through the defence or land one in the block-hole. What India tried instead was predictable and one-dimensional. The South Africans were in no hurry, secure in the knowledge that ones and twos would be enough. They were correct in their assessment of what this Indian attack had to offer.

For reasons best known to them, the team management or selectors never opted for Plan B, after reaching the final in 2017. Perhaps buoyed by that experience, spin remained the template in the 2018 and 2020 T20 World Cups. One semifinal and a final appearance in those two events might also have strengthened their belief that spin is what they must persist with. That international cricket, especially for teams that want to do well, calls for more variety and greater balance went unnoticed. Things remained the same under coaches WV Raman and Ramesh Powar.

I had asked Jhulan during an interview in 2020, whether this is alright. "Plan A has worked. So there has been no need for Plan B, which will be used when the situation demands," was her reply. It’s there for everyone to see if things have panned out the way she had expected.

The team regarded to have heralded a new era in Indian men's cricket was unique because it broke away from the tradition of relying excessively on spinners. Sourav Ganguly realised that to do well abroad, India needed quick bowlers. So despite having stalwarts such as Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh, he went looking for bowlers who could make a difference with their pace. He often said that the toughest decision he had to make was which one of Kumble and Harbhajan to drop in order to accommodate an extra fast bowler. Zaheer Khan to begin with and Ashish Nehra to follow, it started a conveyor belt that even the current men's team is reaping benefits of.

The Test team has won matches in Australia and England because of fast bowlers. True they have two prolific wicket-takers in Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, but even while playing at home, pacers form an integral part of the bowling department. This team has won accolades because of the pace line-up it has. There is a long list of fast bowlers competing for berths in the XI. That made this team what it is, an entity other Test nations are wary of.

This has never been the line of thinking in women's cricket. Other than a 39-plus Jhulan, all that the Women in Blue can think of is spin, spin and more spin.

Shikha Pandey keeps getting overlooked despite some handy performances. Reaching two finals and a semifinal might have created an illusion of efficiency.

As far as the BCCI is concerned, it seems that the officials are happy playing a facilitator's role. Their activities are restricted to funding the team, handing out annual contracts and arranging quality training facilities. That the board's role also includes preparing a roadmap has been ignored. Now that women's cricket in India is grabbing eyeballs, this area needs attention.

Related Stories

No stories found.
The New Indian Express
www.newindianexpress.com