After starting off their World Cup campaign on a tremendous note, the Women in Blue now face a stern challenge in the last group game following consecutive losses to South Africa and Australia which have jeopardised their semi-final qualification. After four victories on a trot to start off their campaign, the women in Blue needs to win their final group game against New Zealand to qualify for the semi-finals.
Australia was always going to be a tough opposition but with a star-studded batting line-up, India was expected to put up a good show. Captain Mithali Raj was just 34 runs short of becoming the highest scorer in Women’s cricket and she did that with style and also went on to become the first woman to go past the 6,000 run mark.
Reflecting on her illustrious career where she has won innumerable laurels for the country Mithali said, “It has been quite a journey. When you have a long career, there are bound to be lots of ups and downs, but I have enjoyed batting, I always did and especially when the team requires me to stand up and get runs. (However) one thing that has always been constant is the burden that I have carried all through my career. Somewhere I feel that if I had few more batters to support me, maybe my game would have been much better than what it is or what it was.
“Even coming into the World Cup considering how the team has been performing in the last two years, I believe that it was the right time for me to elevate my own personal batting standards into the tournament but again it has come back to the same phase where me being in the middle gives a lot of confidence to the other batters and it keeps the dressing room more confident,” she added.
Mithali Raj and Punam Raut shared a 156 runs partnership for the 2nd wicket but they were unable to unleash the big shots which didn’t allow them to break lose especially in the final phase of the innings. Raut scored a magnificent century but it came at a sedate pace. Had they batted with some more intent it could have been a different story.
“They are a good side and they came with a plan. When I walked in, I took some time to get those runs initially and Punam Raut did tell me to stay there. I felt that she feels confident when I am around. If not for myself, at least for a batter who is scoring runs, I feel I need to be around. Also, for the fact that because of that partnership maybe we had few more runs in the end.
“Had we lost my wicket, whole responsibility would have been on the middle-order which has not been performing. I knew for a fact that I was taking a lot of time in the middle. I was feeling bad that I am taking so many balls to get those runs, but at the same time, that was what the team required me to do. Probably, as a batter, I wouldn’t have done that but I am happy the way the team has come back scoring 227 runs after losing Smriti (Mandhana) early,” she said.
Mithali Raj conceded that faltering in big matches has been an age old tradition for the Indian Women. After such an exceptional start to their campaign who would have thought before the final game of the group stage that India will have to play out of their skin in the last match to qualify for the last four. The captain urged the team to step up their game in the final encounter against the Kiwis will be a virtual quarter-final.
“India has always had a problem in crunch matches. If it is a very crucial game, we have usually faltered in that match. That is something that the Indian players, in general, need to work on. As far as skill is concerned, I still believe that the girls are talented it is just a matter of how well they pull themselves up after a defeat is very important because that’s what makes World Champions,” she opined.
Speaking about the do-or-die game against New Zealand, she said, “It is a decider. It is important that team steps up. If we perform the way we did today, personally I would say that it is not enough against the New Zealand. Somewhere we really have to upgrade the way we batted, especially the bowling unit and the fielding department,” the captain signed off.