New Zealand thrashed Pakistan to secure their spot in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup semi-finals from Group A, alongside Australia. This meant that India suffered a group-stage exit with only two wins from four games. The UAE continues to be a tough hunting ground for Indian cricket, both men and women, in recent times.
The men’s team faced a group-stage exit in the 2021 T20 World Cup and failed to win the Asia Cup the following year. Now, the women’s team has also had a disappointing World Cup campaign. The struggle to crack the UAE code continues.
The UAE’s pitches are similar to subcontinent ones, with balls spinning, gripping, and coming slowly on to the bat. Subcontinent teams like India are expected to do well here, but the opposite has been true. In this campaign, batters like Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana struggled to time the ball. Both players thrive when the ball comes on to the bat, allowing them to play their natural game. But when the spinners were introduced early, even in powerplays, they could not rotate the strike.
India’s spin bowling unit consisted of Shreyanka Patil, Asha Sobhana, Radha Yadav, and Deepti Sharma. Apart from Asha, the others struggled, especially Shreyanka and Deepti, who could not find the right pace for the Dubai and Sharjah surfaces. For example, against Australia in Sharjah, where bowlers were getting spin and low bounce, Shreyanka still went for 32 runs in her four overs at an economy of 8, which was well above par for such conditions.
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Both the men’s and women’s teams have struggled against top sides in the UAE. The men lost to Pakistan and New Zealand in the T20 World Cup, and to Pakistan and Sri Lanka in the ‘Super 4’ stage of the Asia Cup. Similarly, the women’s team lost to New Zealand and Australia, though they managed wins over weaker sides like Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
What is the solution? The quality of India’s players is unquestionable. So, is there a need to adapt their techniques? Probably not. The issue may be in the mind. The team needs to strengthen its mindset, especially in crunch moments.
India’s players, though suited to these conditions, could not exploit them when it mattered most. Teams like Australia and New Zealand have this mental edge, and it shows in critical games. Building this mentality comes from consistently winning such matches. It is the process that instills belief.
This World Cup was another wasted opportunity for the Indian women’s team to start building that winning mentality. But Indian fans hope that it will only be a matter of time before the team overcomes this UAE jinx. With the right mindset, future tournaments could finally bring success.