CAPE TOWN: When the India team left for the 2023 T20 World Cup in South Africa, comparisons were made to the men’s campaign in 2007. Both captains had No. 7 on the back of their uniforms. They did not have a head coach going into the tournament. Both teams had similar age profiles. And they were travelling to the same country just before the beginning of a franchise-based T20 league back home.
It did seem like the stars had aligned. This was the year; this seemingly was the tournament where the senior women's wait for an ICC trophy was going to end. And it did seem like it as they were up against Australia just as the men did. However, on Thursday night, that was not how things panned out. As India fell short by five runs in the end, there were tears, players were hardly able to put their thoughts into words.
Captain Harmanpreet Kaur, who was patiently answering every question — whether it was about her "casual approach” during the run-out when her bat got stuck, or about her health or the tight losses — found it difficult after a point, it was becoming difficult. She did not want to be sitting in front of a microphone, analysing what had happened.
After 11-and-a-half minutes, she gave in, turned and signalled towards the moderator. She had just answered the penultimate question of what she would tell herself after such a heartbreak. The last few words of that answer summed it up; "bas, acha cricket khela (we played good cricket), that is one thing I can tell." Just as she walked out of the media centre, she broke down.
Shortly after, Jemimah Rodrigues and Shikha Pandey — the two players who had made a comeback to the side — were searching for words even as they were trying to compose themselves. Rodrigues had probably played the best innings of her international career so far. And there she was saying how proud she was of her teammates, reaffirming this team's potential to dominate the stage in the years to come.
Pandey, who finished with 2/32 and was the among last women standing with Deepti Sharma as the play came to an end, summed it up on what it feels like for an athlete after such a defeat. “To come here with all the preparation and the game gets that close, it is heartbreaking for even the spectators, the followers, I’m sure they will be sad. But to be there and not to be able to take the team through is a feeling that cannot be described,” she said.
Unlike the 2020 T20 World Cup final or even the Commonwealth Games final, it was not the nerves that got the Indian team down. Make no mistake, they dropped two catches, that too off Beth Mooney and Meg Lanning, and there are no excuses to be that poor on the field. But it is not as if had they caught them, they would have restricted Australia to a lower total. With the kind of batters who come after, they might just have conceded more.
How did they lose then?
To an extent, it was luck — it is hard to explain both Rodrigues and Kaur’s dismissals. It was not a shot played in panic or frustration as was the case in Birmingham. It was just the way that partnership flourished; three dot balls in a 41-ball stand against Australia in a semifinal after playing as many as 41 dots versus England told the story. The defending champions had two of their best spinners — Ashleigh Gardner and Jess Jonassen — to bowl in the death overs when the pressure was on. That Kaur was down with a fever and might not have been at her best fitness came into account as well.
Ask Australia, they will say that they probably did not deserve to win. Gardner said as much after the match. It was India’s match to lose, and they did because they have some of the players batting out of position, some who are settling into the new role and perhaps aren’t at a stage where they could step up in a clutch situation like Thursday. That said, the bottom line will remain that Indian women are still searching for their first ICC senior title.
In a week’s time, not just Indians, but the vast majority of the global contingent will be in India for the Women’s Premier League. And this squad of players will not come together for at least another three months. This should give the team management and the top brass of the BCCI ample time to reflect not just on the pool of players, but also on the support staff, a head coach and more.
To become a champion side like Australia, there has to be a vision backed with stability. Meg Lanning and Shelly Nitchke’s predecessor, Matthew Mott, built this team into what it is now. The three global titles in seven years is proof. Perhaps, there is a lesson to be learnt there. And the sooner India does it, the better. Because, as with the men, the WPL is not going to be the be-all and end-all solution to win world titles.