The Indian women have made everyone in the country proud with their superlative performance on the tour of England. They have won the ODI series with a game to spare which is quite admirable. This coming on the back of a good Commonwealth Games where they won the silver medal. If only they had applied a bit better or if they had not felt nervous, they could have won the gold easily. Nonetheless, it was an excellent performance. For quite sometime now, the Indian women are punching above their weight. I mean no disrespect but in a country where education is given lot of importance, it is tough for a male child to pursue a career in sports. On that scale, it is even tougher for a woman child to become a professional sportswoman. Indian women are on the rise.

The batting in the 2nd ODI was simply brilliant. The captain Harmanpreet Kaur led from the front. She absolutely waded into the English bowling attack and tormented them with a flurry of cuts, pulls and slices over the off side. The English bowlers did not know where to bowl to her. Such was her masterclass.

“I just wanted to spend some time on the wicket because today’s wicket was not easy to bat on in the first innings,” she said after the match. “I wanted to keep watching the ball and play accordingly.” She continued, “I didn’t try too many shots [early on]. It is important to read the wicket and be there. Being there is more important because I know if I take more balls initially I can easily cover up in the end.” said Harmanpreet

The future of batting is quite safe

Without her belligerent hundred, India would have struggled to post a competitive score. Instead, she put the game beyond the reach of England. 333 for 5 is something unheard of from an Indian women team against a much fancied England. This was the 2nd total of over 300 in 2022 with the first one coming against West Indies. Smriti Mandhana is another batter who is quite flamboyant. Not to mention Shefali Verma who everyone agrees has an incredible future in the game. Her skills is right on par with the best in the business. She is not afraid to take chances early on and believes in the Sehwag school of batting. Harmanpreet, Smrith & Shefali are the fulcrum of the Indian batting around whom the team will evolve.

India, today is among the top 3 in the world and they deserve to be there after a string of impressive performances. Remember, last year, they stopped the Australian juggernaut by winning the final ODI. The team has both youth and experience in it. Shefali Verma is 18 years old and Jhulan Goswami, for whom the Lord’s ODI will be the last one in her career, approaching 40. Recently, perhaps the greatest Indian woman batter, Mithali Raj, bid adieu to the game but she has really built a team that has gone on from strength to strength.

Nerves the reason for not winning a world title

It really is a shame that the team is yet to win a world title. The came close twice. Once during the 2018 World Cup and next during the Commonwealth Games. In both the finals, they faltered at the final hurdle because of nerves. The Indian team is not mentally strong. When the team close enough to win both the tournaments, they failed to believe in themselves. Probably they were overwhelmed by how close they were to a major milestone. Instead of However, they will be wise for the experience.  

The best chance for the squad to set the record straight will be at the Asia Cup that starts in a couple of weeks from now.

A wonderful career comes to an end

Now, the Lord’s game will be an emotional game for all the players. It will be even more emotional for a few like the captain herself. Jhulan Goswami, who has been a valiant warrior for several years, will follow in the footsteps of Mithali Raj and will bow out of the game forever. She is the greatest Indian bowler and one of the greatest to have played the game in the world. Her performances speaks for itself. She would like to leave the game on a high. It really is unfortunate that such a glittering career is not marked by a beautiful trophy. The agony of the 2017 World Cup will be with her forever but that in no way diminishes who she had been and her exploits. Espncricinfo has paid her lovely compliment.

“The Lord’s game is very special for us because it’s Jhulan’s retirement and we wanted to enjoy that game without any pressure and I’m really happy that we were able to win today and now we can just have fun in that game,” Harmanpreet said. “It’s very important because that will be her last game. It will be a very emotional moment for all of us and we definitely want to win that game,” she added

Wrapping up Indian women are on the rise

I cannot help but compare the women to their male counterpart. Given the limitations, it is admirable what they have achieved but the same cannot be said about the men. If an IPL for women does go ahead, it is likely to bring in riches that the women were never accustomed to. It may revolutionise the game in the country and that is likely to bring in lot more talents. The day is not far off when the women will be able to lift that World Cup.

Other blogs about Indian women cricket team can be read here, here and here.

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The top and middle-order let India down – 3

Ravindra Jadeja Probably the most improved batsman in the world. I will write a separate blog about Jadeja. In this test, he showed why he is preferred to Ashwin though it was never between Jadeja and Ashwin. I have always said that Jadeja plays outside of India as a specialist batsman. Everyone knows that his bowling is non-threatening in English conditions. He may take advantage of a 5th day wearing pitch and that is about it. He paced his innings beautifully. The way he manipulated strike with the tail in the first innings was excellent. If only Pant had stayed with Jadeja, the lead could have been around the 450 mark. Shardul Thakur Shardul Thakur is not an express fast bowler. As such he can never terrorise any batsman with his pace. He is in the team in overseas conditions because he can contribute with the bat. If he fails with the bat and does not keep the economy rate down and provide breakthroughs, it is tough to justify his inclusion. After the enormous partnership between Pant and Jadeja, India needed one more partnership of 50-odd runs to establish authority over England. If only Shardul had stayed with Jadeja at the point, we may have well earned another 60-75 runs. A first innings score of close to 500 would have proved quite challenging but Shardul failed with the bat at the wrong time. Moreover, his bowling was not threatening and he missed an easy sitter of Stokes. Shardul was the star performer earlier in the series and as such this one bad game should not invite condemnation. However, Shardul must realise that he is in the team for his batting as much as he is for his bowling. In hindsight, would Ashwin had been a better choice than Shardul? Maybe may not be. The only reason that I am not able to emphatically say yes is the fact that there is no proof to the contrary. As Manjrekar rightly said, he is yet to take a 5-fer in the countries that matter. With age not on his side, it is anybody’s guess whether he will be able to correct that aberration. Mohammed Shami Shami is a brilliant bowler. We know that. Shami bowls some magic balls. We know that too. Shami makes the batsmen play more often. We know that one as well. Shami is unlucky. That is the problem. He is good and he does bowl lot of excellent deliveries but if they do not fetch frequent wickets, then there is a problem that needs to be identified. A couple of wickets in the second innings just when things started to look dicey for India, would have put the game firmly in India’s grasp. His record in England is a major concern. Just 38 wickets in 13 tests, under 3 per test is not the expected return from the premier fast bowler. It is unfortunate that despite his obvious talent, he has often failed to deliver against the major teams. This is the 3rd consecutive test that India failed to defend and Shami has a lot to contribute towards that dismal record. One good thing about Shami is that he showed maturity while batting in the first innings. He gave adequate support to Jadeja which is good to see. He played the short-balls much better than Shreyas. He will have to work with experts and see where is he going wrong? Does he have to pitch the ball much closer or short? Is the length the problem? Jasprit Bumrah The captain played a blinder and absolutely annihilated Broad. Sadly, it was with the bat. With the ball however, Bumrah once again failed at the crunch. He is quickly becoming the Kohli of bowling. For someone this talented, his match winning feats are less. He is the most protected Indian bowler. He has played all but just 2 of the games outside India. Bumrah is often given a break from tests in India. It makes sense because his action is so irregular that over-bowling may result in an injury but being the bowler the opposition plays cautiously and being the premier Indian bowler, to have failed to defend scores in the last innings on three successive occasions, it really casts a big question mark on his effectiveness. Whether all the pampering, is it really worth? The Edgbaston game was the 5th time in the last 10-12 tests that Bumrah did not raise to the occasion. It includes the WTC finals in conditions that is any fast bowler’s dream. Ofcourse, he picked up 5 wickets in the test but was still unable to break the Root-Bairstow partnership. I have written that he is becoming the Kohli of bowling. Kohli is similar in the sense that when faced with a target to chase, this is about Test cricket only, he is unable to win the game with his bat. He had a couple of opportunities in South Africa in 2017 and a couple more in England in 2017. Bumrah had this one apart from the two tests in South Africa, the WTC finals and the 2nd test in New Zealand. The last one was a long shot because the target was meagre. One thing to note is that he is not the rabbit with the bat anymore. He has certainly improved on that front but it is his bowling that is required. Mohammed Siraj Siraj usually is quite expensive. Even when he is among the wickets, he is expensive but even for him, this test would have been an awakening. He was literally taken apart by both Bairstow and Root. Towards the final stages, the way Bairstow toyed with him in the last over, any bowler would have been ashamed. These are early days and he has shown sufficient skill to become the mainstay but he must also realise that being the 3rd choice bowler, his chances will be limited when India play at home. Conclusion to the top and middle-order let India down This was a golden opportunity for India to win a series in England. Ofcourse, not when they were 98/5 but once a lead of 134 runs was secured, India must have accelerated quickly and must have built an impenetrable position. The negativity of Pujara, Vihari and to an extent Kohli and Jadeja, the recklessness of Pant, the inability of Gill to make a rare opportunity count and the impotence of the bowlers in the final innings meant that India were lucky that they had an upper hand for more than 60% of the game. Remember, we played with one player less because Shreyas is literally a free wicket. By the next time, India go over to England, some of these players would have retired and whether we will get another chance in the foreseeable future, is doubtful.

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