Hello Sports lovers,
In yet another cricket dominated month cricketing world was keeping a close eye on the much anticipated return of RO-KO (Rohit & Virat) and performance of women in blue in the ongoing ICC women's ODI World cup. Return of Rohit & Virat created a mixed emotion among the fans as India lost the ODI series to the Aussies but the final ODI witnessed the age old magic of the duo when they stitched a match winning partnership. Rohit's Player of the series performance was a subtle response of the Mumbaikar to all his critics who were busy talking about his future in national team. Though the debate of whether the duo can sustain till the next ODI World cup is still on, only consistent performances over a period of next 6-12 months can decide their fate.
As far as the ICC women's ODI World cup is concerned women in blue has a mixed bag of results so far. They have definitely crossed the bare minimum hurdle of qualifying for the semis but losses to top three teams in the group stage ( Australia, England, South Africa) seemed alarming. They will have their biggest challenge of the tournament when they face defending champions Australia in the second semi final. Considering it's a knockout game team that will hold their nerves for the most part of the game will come triumphant. Despite India's not so impressive record against the Aussies the whole nation will cheer for our girls when they arrive for this important game of the tournament.
Among other cricketing actions, reigning WTC champions South Africa started the current WTC cycle with a drawn series (1-1) against Pakistan. They were completely outplayed in the first test in spin friendly conditions but bounced back nicely in the second test with a dominating performance both with bat & ball. Bangladesh had a busy time playing back to back ODI series, first against Afghanistan & then against West Indies. Series win against West Indies would have been extremely pleasing for them since it was a hard fought series. West Indies' dismal performance continued across formats. After loosing the test series 2-0 against India they performed poorly in the ODIs against Bangladesh. Upcoming T20I series against the same opponents would give them another chance to finetune their preparations before next year's T20 World cup.
The next series that the cricketing world will be following closely is the Ashes series between arch rivals Australia & England. Cricketing circle is already buzzing in anticipation for this age old rivalry just like the previous ones. Considering nature of pitches used in recent times in Australia coupled with ultra aggressive batting of the Englishmen, it should be a cracker of a series. Australia has already suffered a heavy blow in terms of injury to their skipper Pat Cummins. Despite availability of a tactically sound leader like Steve Smith who is all set to take over as captain and Scott Boland as a replacement for Cummins, regular captain's absence & few other selection dilemmas can play well into England's hands. Both the teams though were busy preparing for the big series by playing some white ball cricket. Australia had a good run against New Zealand & India whereas England's efforts to set up a new template under new white ball captain Harry Brook got interrupted against New Zealand manly due to inclement weather conditions.
In our current edition of Sports talk of the month we will take a close look on Indian women's team's journey so far in the ongoing ODI World cup.
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| Image Design: Bala Kumar |
India's preparation for the much awaited home World cup was good enough with a white ball series win against England at their backyard followed by a closely fought ODI series loss at home against defending champions Australia. Despite the series loss just before the big tournament there were quite a few positives for women in blue including overall team balance, Smriti Mandhana's form, encouraging performances from the younger generation to name a few. Over the years we have lost many close games or tournaments despite having sufficient talent in our disposal just because our girls were not able to hold their nerves in crunch matches. If we look at the last ODI against Australia before the World cup or three consecutive losses in the World cup it is quite evident that we were not able to win the big moments to eventually win the match.
Losses to three other semifinalists who have performed lot better than the home team is definitely not a big confidence booster ahead of the knockout round. If we consider major factors behind India's not so encouraging performances in the league phase three factors seem to be taking the bigger load.
First one being the ideal combination for the playing eleven. Enough time was available before the tournament to do all the homework to find the right balance for a global tournament like World cup. But it seemed like the team management faltered in that part and went ahead with a combination that possibly is not capable of producing ideal results in long run. In a high scoring match against Australia we were playing with only five frontline bowlers which was a real shock. It's always ideal to invest in youth but in big tournaments the senior players mostly come with match winning performances to lift the team. Having a senior pro like Renuka Singh in the team and she not finding a place in the playing eleven was a hard pill to swallow. Against England we saw a change in combination but result remained the same. Then in the must win encounter against New Zealand we went back to the former combination. So it all seemed so puzzled rather than strategic moves. Hopefully in the knockouts we get the winning combination.
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| Harmanpreet Kaur Image Credit: Bahnfrend, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons |
Another major factor being captain Harmanpreet's lack of impactful batting performances throughout the tournament. We witnessed captains of opponent teams performing when it mattered the most be it Healy (Austraia), Nat Sciver-Brunt (England) or Wolvaardt (South Africa). But such performances from Harmanpreet were missing. It's not about big hundreds rather impactful innings that can lift the spirit of the entire team. Dhoni's innings in the 2011 ICC ODI World cup final was an ideal example of a captain leading from the front. We never know if she has saved it for the big matches. But if there is an occasion for Harman to shine with the bat it is now considering chances of her playing another ODI World cup seem slim.
Final factor would definitely be the old nemesis mental toughness. Lack of it was visible in their fielding too. It was definitely not upto the mark. There is always pressure in international cricket & that increases drastically when you are playing a home World cup. So it was expected from the entire team specially the senior ones to handle that pressure better. Even bowlers were unable to perform as per the expectation despite playing in home conditions. Match against Australia was a prime example where they registered a record chase courtesy some poor bowling by Indians. Winning a tournament like World cup is not alone skill dependent. Mental toughness plays a major role in that. It is expected from our girls that now they having the exposure of sharing dressing rooms with fellow foreign greats in franchisee leagues they would grow mental muscle. Though they haven't been the best side of the tournament so far, two outstanding performances and the scenario can be completely different. A billion people will hope for that over this week.
Stay tuned for more at this space.
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