The Indian women’s cricket team’s head coach Amol Muzumdar has addressed that the side didn’t play to their full ability and potential during the final game of the Women’s Asia Cup 2024 against Sri Lanka at the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium, missing the record eighth-title of the competition.
India progressed into the final of the event with an unbeaten run, as they blew away Pakistan, United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Nepal in the group stage, before thrashing the Bangladesh side with a comfortable 10-wicket victory during the semi-final of the tournament.
Sri Lanka, on the other hand, was enjoying the same fate in the competition. Quite comprehensively, they defeated Bangladesh, Thailand, and Malaysia in the group stage of the camp, before holding their nerve in the tough and close semi-final win over Pakistan.
“We were not affected by it”- Amol Muzumdar after final defeat
Winning the toss in the final of the competition, Indian women’s captain Harmanpreet Kaur opted to bat first on a slow surface. The visitors lost their aggressive opening batter Shafali Verma quite early on the individual score of 16, while his partner for the first wicket-Smriti Mandhana managed 60 runs in 47 balls, with the help of seven boundaries and one six.
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The middle order of the Indian batting failed terribly as Richa Ghosh’s 14-ball 30-run knock propelled them to a decent score of 165/6 in their allotted 20 overs.
The team’s head coach Amol Muzumdar admitted they had not been able to execute their plans in the evening and missed the opportunities in the fielding department of the game.
“Well actually, to be very honest, in one odd game we didn’t play well; we didn’t execute whatever we hoped for. But that’s about it. We’ve been dominating right through the last series against South Africa and this tournament also.” Amol Muzumdar expressed this while speaking exclusively on Star Sports.
“So I think in one odd game we didn’t play to the potential, but credit needs to go where it’s supposed to go, and I think Sri Lanka batted really well. I think 165 was a really good total, but I think Sri Lanka batted well.” The former Mumbai batter pointed out. ‘They got off to a flyer, and we couldn’t capitalize on the opportunities that we had. But at the same time, credit needs to go to Sri Lanka for batting well.”
The bowling wasn’t up to the mark too, as they conceded an 87-run partnership for the second wicket between the opponent captain Chamari Athapaththu and Harshitha Madavi, who later shared another 73-run stand with Kavisha Dilhari.
“I think in all three departments we have shown some great character. Our batting has been good for the last two months; we’ve seen that the batting has been really good.” Amol Muzumdar demonstrated the departments where they would need to develop. “The bowlers have done their job; the bowlers have been fantastic in the tournament, and also against South Africa, the bowlers did wonders over there. And progressively we are going ahead in our fielding department also. We made a few blunders today”
The home crowd in Dambulla was the 12th man for the Sri Lankan side, as they came in numbers to support their team in the quest for their maiden Asia Cup title.
However, Amol Muzumdar felt that given these Indian players had been playing the Women’s Premier League (WPL) for the last two seasons, it shouldn’t bother them much.
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“We were not affected by it. They have all played in WPL, they have all played in a series where it’s a full house, maybe even more than this, the crowd. So it didn’t affect them.” The 49-year-old was observed during the interaction. “But having said that, it was nice to see the spectators turning up for the finals, and I’m sure they had a good time here.”
India will now look to develop their skills a little going into the upcoming season of the Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 in Bangladesh.