As the dust settles on India’s defeat and we come to terms with yet another World Cup exit, unless Pakistan script a miracle tonight, it is important to keep calm and exercise restraint. No one is hurting more than the players, and it is important we empathise while still asking the tough questions. While no over-the-top reaction is required, it is important to take stock and introspect. Analyse what went wrong, and why it happens time and again with the women’s team.
The one difference between Australia’s approach and India’s lies in the fear of failure. Australia played without fear, while the India were scared of losing. It made Australia aggressive and India defensive. Do Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana not have the shots? They absolutely do and we have seen that multiple times in the past. However, the urge to play themselves in, and take a few extra balls without trying to attack is because they don’t want to fail.
Rather, they were trying too hard. Just like in the Commonwealth Games final (2022) against Australia, where India were overcharged, in this match too, the players were desperate not to fail. As a result, they turned defensive. It was a 130-run pitch. India conceded 20 more with bad captaincy calls. It was a safety-first approach and it backfired. This is where one has to question the team and the coaching unit. What exactly was Amol Muzumdar’s role? Why is it that the team looked mentally scared going into the game?
Except for the game against Sri Lanka where Harmanpreet teed off in the last five and pushed India to a competitive total, in every other match, India let balls go without attacking the bowlers. There were 31 dot balls last night. And this has to be attributed to a mindset. Can Deepti Sharma not play shots? Of course she can. But here, she seemed desperate not to get out, and as a result even full tosses were batted off to long-on and not really attacked.
Is this approach a result of pressure that the Indian team is always under?
It is time to take a step back, and think what went wrong and how we can improve. Dubai and Sharjah 2024 is now history. No amount of criticism will get India to the semi-final unless Pakistan beat New Zealand. Rather, we need a new vision for the format. A T20 roadmap of sorts, which will define our approach in the next two years. The India A performances in Australia were nothing to write home about either. And that’s where things don’t look good at all.
That India have the money is known. That we have the Women’s Premier League (WPL) is now a given. There is no reason why we cannot win a world event. And yet, we haven’t ever done so. So, let’s hit the nail on the head. Let’s address the core issue – fear of failure.
If our players are able to overcome this inner fear, there’s no reason why we won’t win. Australia played freely and won. They leaned on a tried-and-tested approach, whereas India tried to balance everything out. Australia and New Zealand went all in against India. We did not. In T20 cricket, safety-first won’t work.
India were never ahead of the curve in a daunting run chase after Tahlia McGrath and Ellyse Perry made the most of some confused captaincy and below-par fielding to post an imposing 151. India’s World Cup is as good as over.
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The men are an example, and the faster the women come to terms with it too, the better. This is where we need to start afresh. May be under a new leader. Is Smriti that person? Has she done enough in big games to deserve the captaincy? Can we experiment with a new approach and make a new beginning with someone else? Remember 2007 and Mahendra Singh Dhoni? The defeat is history. The future is in our hands.