CHENNAI: As an emotional Marizanne Kapp let out a roar at the Old Trafford, Manchester on Sunday evening, India had suffered at the hands of South Africa in the Women's T20 World Cup. And once again, it all felt like a familiar story playing out over and over again.
The Women in Blue, having beaten the two easier opponents early on, had fallen short at the first real challenge in the ICC event. And as a result, now they are in a position where the Harmanpreet Kaur-led side has to beat Bangladesh and Australia in their next two games to qualify comfortably. It is not an impossible way forward, but considering the real possibility of an early elimination — in consecutive T20 World Cups — the loss against Proteas would sting harder.
Even more so considering the familiarity of the opponents and what is at stake. Head coach Amol Muzumdar remained positive, reiterating that there is no need for panic and adverse reactions after what was their first loss. While he has a point, the disappointing aspect about the result, or the lack thereof, is the predictability of it all.
While India were handed a hefty blow with the injury of Shreyanka Patil, the mistakes and tactical errors made on Sunday calls for a quick introspection. For starters, not bowling out Nandni Sharma, the seamer who broke into the team on the back of her variations and ability to bowl in the death, while allowing Kapp to hit with the wind against Deepti Sharma in the penultimate over. Then, adding only 25 runs in the last three overs while batting. The shot selection of Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma at the top. Besides, having Yastika Bhatia at No 3 meant pushing everyone one spot lower than they are supposed to be. And dropped catches didn't help their cause either.
These issues are glaring to see from the outside, but Muzumdar maintained that it was one bad day where South Africa got the better of them. There is perhaps some merit to the point that their best fielder, Radha Yadav, had a day to forget, dropping multiple catches. Or even the aggressive approach by the openers which is in line with the direction of the sport. "If we would have even fielded a little better, I think the result would have gone either way," coach even acknowledged.
However, calling the bowling attack inexperienced makes little sense. "Look, having said all those things, you have to take into consideration that the entire bowling attack apart from Deepti is a very inexperienced — give them some time in international cricket. Somebody like NR Sree Charani, very new to international cricket. Prema Rawat playing her first game. Even when Shreyanka has been very new to international cricket. Kranti Gaud, and so is Nandni Sharma. Apart from Deepti, we do have a lot of inexperience in the bowling lineup. But give them some time, and I'm sure they'll come up. I think you'll reverse your question after 24 months," Muzumdar explained.
In the names mentioned, apart from Nandni and Prema, everyone else has played at least one World cup. Sree Charani and Kranti played in the ODI WC while Radha and Arundhati Reddy has been around for longer. In fact, Sree Charani has the most wickets for a full-member nation in T20Is since 2025. Then there is Renuka Singh who is yet to play a game. For Muzumdar to call this bowling attack inexperienced is in some way doing a disservice to the players than backing them after a bad day. The worrying part, perhaps, is that India knew that this contest was a crunch game from the moment the schedule came out. Muzumdar admitted as much. "Of course, it was a big game. There's no doubt about it. But we still have two more games to look forward to, and, there is no doubt in my mind that if we play to our potential, we can be on the right side of those two games," he said.
The first step would be beating Bangladesh on Thursday, but the biggest challenge, perhaps a virtual quarterfinal, would be against Australia on Sunday. If India lose one of the games and South Africa win the remaining two, they would be knocked out of the tournament. Which means, a bad day like Sunday cannot be repeated again. And the likes of Mandhana, Kaur and Muzumdar have to regroup and get the campaign back on track come Thursday.
Tuesday's matches
New Zealand vs Scotland, Bristol, 7PM
Ireland vs Sri Lanka, Bristol, 11PM
Live on Star Sports and JioHotstar
