Indian women’s team are on a dream run in their outings in the on-going ICC T20 Women’s World Cup.
The Women In Blue have been unbeaten in the league stages and have remained pretty much the same in the semi-finals too. However, the sole twist in the tale has been rained and India’s win without a delivery being bowled.
It is not surprising to find that a vast array of comments has now started floating after the match washed out. Cricket fans have naturally expressed sorrow over washout of one of the most important, anticipated and interesting matches of the tournament. Naturally, it is disappointing to see a match wash out without two sides facing each other. However, this intensifies when the match is a knockout and that too in an ICC event.
Fans and viewers of the game have expressed their disapproval of ICC not managing to accommodate reserve days for Women’s World Cup. In a flow of emotional and sensational comments from the players and fans, it is being projected that India has been gifted a freebie. However, such naïve comments on India and ICC may reflect a severe degree of lack of awareness. It has to be noted that these conditions are placed and declared before the tournament is started, and the unavailability of reserve days is not something new with the functioning of ICC.
Interestingly many important matches from the past have been drained by clouds and ICC. Further, the Indian team has been rewarded for topping a table that had contenders from top to the bottom. They have been one of the most lethal and consistent sides in the tournament. To snatch any credit from Indian women’s team on their royal and maiden arrival into the finals of the World T20 championship is uncalled for and lacks rationale.
Sorrow on the part of English fans is expected and may in fact prove fruitful for the future course of the game. English media and sensational veterans need not be reminded that they became runners of the 1992 world cup in a very similar fashion as India in the ongoing world cup.
Many ICC events have passed without reserve days. Moreover, there are reservations on the conditions for reserve days (no pun intended). Voices have not been heard in connection with this fuss earlier at this scale. However, cricketing pasts have revealed that fire gets resolved quickly when English bushes are touched. Cricketing fraternity needs to realize that these are structural issues that need a deep change in the working of a global body. Cribbing would not help in these stages but a thoughtful plan and roadmap for future events.
A student who enjoys studying cricket more than anything else, keen to learn the insights of the women’s game.