The Asian Games gold notwithstanding, the game has very little to show for in 2023 in white ball cricket. Consistently inconsistent, the Indian women’s team has shown very little progress in the year gone by.
It was March 2020 and the Indian women had made the final of the world T-20 in Australia against all odds. It was the second final for the side in 3 years after Mithali Raj had led the team to the final of the 50 over world cup in England in 2017. With 86,000 fans at the MCG, the occasion was a real spectacle. While the Australians dominated the match with Alyssa Healy playing a blinder, and won yet another world title, every Indian fan was left with hope that big things are round the corner for the team. With a prodigious talent in Shafali Varma at the top of the order joining hands with the hugely talented Smriti Mandhana, India was ready to push England and Australia and force open the big league.
With Harmanpreet Kaur playing a few of the best innings the sport has seen, the hope was not unfounded. And yet the hope hasn’t been fulfilled. Consistently inconsistent, the Indian graph is on a downward curve the last few years and some wins against minor teams in the Asian Games notwithstanding, performance is surely a cause of worry as we step into 2024.
While India won the two Tests against England and Australia, the truth is for the women’s game the white ball versions are still far more important than red ball. That India isn’t playing a Test match until 2025 is proof. And that’s where the results start to hurt. Another series loss tonight from a position of complete control tells a story. Australia knows how to win, India doesn’t. Take the CWG final and the world cup semi-final or the match tonight, it is the same story. Defeat from the jaws of victory and the same old explanation that there are many positives from the game.
First things first, the women’s sport continues to be lopsided. While the top rung is fairly settled with teams like Australia, England and South Africa, the gap between the top and middle rung is a serious one. India, which should have pushed the top teams consistently and should have started to win series against them by now (not just one off games, which are often inconsequential rubbers), hasn’t been able to do so. So we are still clubbed with New Zealand, West Indies, Bangladesh and Pakistan. It is one thing to be satisfied beating some of these teams like in the Asian Games and celebrating a historic medal and a completely different thing beating Australia and England and doing so consistently. Winning against Bangladesh and Pakistan can’t be the index of success. Not anymore. And that’s where India is stuck at the moment.
Another disappointing series loss for India. From a position of strength, to lose the game and the series will hurt more.@ishaanshahane11 analyses from the ground.@ThumsUpOfficial #INDWvAUSW #INDWvsAUSW pic.twitter.com/RJ0kS4OxqS
— RevSportz (@RevSportz) December 30, 2023
While the game has moved on administratively with the start of the WPL, which has been backed by serious corporate support, performance has not risen satisfactorily. And that’s where the problem stems from. The men’s game became what it at the back of two of Indian cricket’s greatest triumphs. The 1983 world cup win transformed the sport into a national obsession of sorts and within a decade, corporate investment in men’s cricket had become the norm. Thereafter the 2007 T-20 world cup win meant the IPL would take off and how. Sport always goes hand in hand with nationalism and these victories managed to unify fans behind the sport. For the women’s game, however, a major series win against Australia (like for the men in 2018 or 2021) or an ICC trophy win is a dire need. To lose bilateral home contests against England or Australia isn’t acceptable anymore. There are enough and more facilities on offer and the players have enough going for them at the moment. If the fans are to push the BCCI for making the WPL a home and away format for example, they need the team to do better. The sport can’t be an act of charity. The team now has to push its way forward and it is only possible with big wins at the big stage. To get all out for 80 on the night of the WPL auction against the English or a loss against Australia with 35 to get of the last 5 overs with 5 wickets in hand was a real let down for fans. That’s how the sport loses momentum and that’s what we need to guard against.
The point then is simple- the game, on the field, hasn’t progressed in the last three years and while things have got better off the field with the WPL, on field successes are essential to sustain the momentum. With Amol Mazumdar in charge, his primary responsibility going into 2024 will have to be to start winning consistently and against the bigger teams. The Asian Games gold, however historic, isn’t satisfactory anymore.