Boria Majumdar
In 24 hours, India’s women’s team will play the most important match of their lives. The stakes are at their highest and there is a huge amount of interest all round. The upset semi-final win over Australia has ignited fan passion and the tournament has come alive ahead of the final. I still call it an upset, for Australia were indeed the team to beat. They have proved it time and again, and set the bar really high.
For India, the batting effort exceeded expectations. At the break, with 339 to chase down, hardly anyone gave India a chance. The bowling and fielding were poor and the captaincy left a lot to be desired. Now, here is the interesting point. In our mid-innings show, Trisha Ghosal, Gargi Raut and I were critical of Harmanpreet Kaur’s decision-making and rightly so. Not to bowl Renuka Thakur was a mistake in our eyes, and we called it out. The fielding was below-par and we needed to speak about it. We did.
In the post-match show, some viewers started attacking us saying we were critical! Of course we were. And we ought to be. That’s how it is, and that’s our job. When I asked back how many of them felt the skipper was at her best on the field and how many of them said so mid-innings, not one spoke up.
In India, it is either the best or the worst. Now that India have won the semi-final, Harmanpreet is back to being the best captain. No, she isn’t. As a batter, she played a brilliant hand, no doubt. But as captain, she has been average at best in this competition. Even poor at times. Her decisions haven’t been the best, and we need her to be better in the final.
The nature of knockout matches are such that they mask a lot of deficiencies. Now that India have beaten Australia and caused the biggest upset of the tournament, the losses to England, South Africa and Australia are forgotten. The truth is, we just about scraped through with that win against New Zealand and have been modest at best. It needs to be recognised that India haven’t played a near-perfect game. There are areas that can be improved on, and that’s what the captain and coach should aspire to in the final.
South Africa, except in the group games against England and Australia, have played some really good cricket. Laura Wolvaardt was exceptional in the semi-final and will be the key player in the final. Nadine De Klerk played a stellar hand against India and Chloe Tryon has been consistent all tournament. To beat South Africa, India will need their A game. More so because India aren’t underdogs anymore.
Against Australia, it was all about them. India were rank outsiders, and beating Australia was a huge upset. Against South Africa, with massive crowd support behind them, India start favourites. And the favourite tag brings pressure in its wake. A very different kind of pressure. One of expectation. That’s what India will have to guard against in the final. Soak it in, and make it count.
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