India women, what a performance..! Winning a cup is one thing, it would be the icing on the cake, however, the fight and the run they gave was something to admire.
India women aren’t like the men’s team. They aren’t as dominant in women’s cricket. Reaching a World Cup final is great and nothing can match that. Remember, they don’t play regular cricket like the men’s team. Yes, India had reached the final in the 2005 WC, but this was different. The 2005 Women’s World Cup wasn’t televised. I personally didn’t know that a World Cup was going on. Mithali Raj was the captain then, and she is the captain now. Both times, she had to face disappointment. The women’s cricket didn’t get as much glamour and attention, or news headlines before, however, when India beat Australia in the semi-finals, the newspapers, websites, social media were filled with Indian women’s cricket appreciation. Harmanpreet Kaur was on another level that day. Unfortunately, it didn’t click for her today. Before the final, Mithali Raj had interviews, her name was in all newspaper headlines. The women’s team is not used to this attention. They played the entire tournament with youngsters like Deepti Sharma, Smriti Mandhana and many more.
When the World Cup qualification deadline date was reached, the India women side was in the bottom 4 of the rankings. As a result, they had to play the qualifiers to qualify for this World Cup. If anyone would have watched that qualifier tournament, they would be proud of the Indian women’s team. They dominated the entire tournament and came at as winners in a final that was the highest chase in a Women’s ODI by India. Harmanpreet Kaur was the star in the final, who scored the last ball four for a win and Deepti Sharma announced her grand entry in the team.
Coming to this World Cup, India Women’s team won the first 4 matches quite convincingly. However, the road to qualify for semis wasn’t that easy as they had been pushed to play a virtual quarter final against New Zealand. They beat New Zealand in a grand fashion only to find Australia, the defending champions in the semi-final. Everyone who follows women’s cricket would know how dominant a side Australia is. Beating them is a dream which comes true once in ten occasions and that dream came true for India as Harmanpreet Kaur decimated the Aussie bowlers to record the 5th highest individual score in women’s cricket, 171*(115). The hopes were revived. India had beaten England in the group stage and they had to do it once again but this was the final. However, it wasn’t so.
The intensity, the pressure, and the media attention, everything was new to this Indian side. The inexperience of playing a final had a heavy toll. But, this will only make them stronger. The day is not far when India women will lift that trophy. The side looks very promising and it is in right hands. Today, it’s a day to say that the other team was better.
All I want to say is that I’m proud of the women’s team and there’s nothing for them to be ashamed of.