The Australian Women’s team is a giant killer; they hardly lose games of cricket. Sunday’s loss against India in the second T20 International was in fact, the first loss for the team in the whole calendar year. And we’re now in the mid of December. If the tangible assets that they possess aren’t enough, this is another testimony to the fact that they are by far, the best team in the world. So how does a team gain an advantage over a team which is as dominant as this? How does a team put pressure on a team which has a habit of staying composed and getting the job done in pressure situations? Ask India, they’ll you.
There is one advantage that India always has over other opponents and that is the fan following. No matter where the team is playing, the fans will always turn up to get behind the team. It’s now reached a point where India gets more support than even the home team at times.
On December 9, over 25000 assembled at the D.Y. Patil Sports Academy Stadium to rally behind the Women in Blue in the first of 5 T20Is. Two nights later, on the 11th, it got even better with more than 47000 people in attendance.
“It’s such a cool place to play cricket…I’m just trying to soak it up as much as I can”, said Annabel Sutherland to Laura Jolly for cricket.com.au after the second game.
“It was so, so loud”
Annabel Sutherland recalls the 2nd T20I at DY Patil.#CricketTwitter #INDvAUS pic.twitter.com/AK798FoUGb
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) December 13, 2022
She went on to add that the crowd was so loud on Sunday that it was difficult for the tourists to talk to each other even from a distance of five meters.
“It was so, so loud, whenever the Indians do anything remotely good, it goes off and then when we take a wicket or something, it’s deadly silence, so it’s a little bit different”, she said in acknowledgement of the crowd’s support for the home team.
Another Aussie star, Ellyse Perry had similar things to say about the atmosphere in the stadium which she described as ‘deafening’. She also admitted that some of the players woke up with headaches after the first game because of how loud the crowd was.
The Indians won’t mind it; in fact they will want more of the same for the remainder of the series and beyond. After all, it’s not always that a team gets to have an advantage over a force as dominant as the Aussies on the field. As for the Aussies, they may have covered all the bases when it comes to their skills but this is one problem that they didn’t see coming. And well, this is just the start of it.