Australia – Six-time T20 World Champions, and they have hoisted the trophy on the previous three occasions.
That is a clear indicator that the Alyssa Healy-led Australian side will once again get the top billing for the upcoming T20 World Cup to be held in the UAE. In recent times, India have been one of the teams who have tried to usurp Australia from pole position. They ended up losing to Australia in the summit clash and then in the last four in the 2020 and 2023 editions of the tournament. In the 2023 World Cup, India looked all set to upset the applecart before Harmanpreet Kaur was run out. Eventually, Australia were once again crowned champions.
India, who are scheduled to meet Australia on October 13 in the group phase, will look to erase those not-so-good memories from the past. Harmanpreet, for one, sounded confident of defeating Australia. “Look, their team is good, no doubt about that,” she said at a press conference preceding the Indian team’s departure to the UAE. “They also know that India is one of the teams that can go really hard at them. I think that is a really positive sign. We know that whenever we are playing against them, we can beat them any day, any time.
“It is a great opportunity for us. They know that we are a team that is really good. We just want to play good cricket and be in that frame where we are aware and keep talking about those things that will help us beat them.”
India’s previous assignment – the Asia Cup – didn’t exactly go according to plan. In the final, they came second-best to a Sri Lankan side inspired by Chamari Athapaththu’s splendid effort. Harmanpreet, though, pointed out India were consistent for most of the tournament and it was a case of one bad day at the office. “During the Asia Cup, we played good cricket,” she said. “We have to talk about the entire tournament. There is the one odd game – that day, things did not go how we wanted. There are a lot of areas where we sit and discuss how we go about it, and we are working on that.”
For India to put up a good show in the World Cup, they have to address a few areas of concern. One of them is fielding. For a period of time, India have made elementary errors on the field. Even in the Asia Cup final, India made costly mistakes, and Harmanpreet fluffed a chance to give Harshitha Madavi a reprieve.
On his part, Amol Mazumdar, the head coach, noted, “We did identify a few things, and we went about it in the subsequent camps which followed the Asia Cup. We had a fitness camp which happened at the NCA. Fitness and fielding camp were specifically done for those two areas. Where the skills weren’t touched, but we had a 10-day skill-camp where we focused on the skills and also played matches. We identified certain things, and we tried to deliver that.”
There are also question marks over who would slot in at the crucial No. 3 slot. In recent times, India have experimented with Yastika Bhatia, Dayalan Hemalatha, Uma Chetry and Sajeevan Sajana. They could yet revert back to Jemimah Rodrigues. Her ability to explore every nook and cranny of the ground with her busy game could prove to be useful at that position.
Over 61 matches, Jemimah averages a little over 30 at that slot in T20Is. But over 14 matches, Jemimah has done better at the No. 5 position, averaging 46.5. Yastika is the other option. The left-hand batter was in decent form in the IPL, accumulating 204 runs. The India head coach seemed to keep his cards close to the chest and didn’t reveal much. “Obviously, I said the top 6 are brilliant and the best in the country,” said Mazumdar. “Of course, we have identified but we will reveal it just before the 11 is announced. I know for a fact that the No. 3 position sets up the game in any form of the game.”