The entire country was in shock as they saw the match slipping away from grasp of India which was in their pocket for most of the time. Some die-hard followers were not in the position to get up and have their dinner after this nerve-wrecking end to India’s dream World cup chase. The blank face of Raj herself, the teary eyes of the members which merely an hour before saw the dream to lift the coveted cup for the first time were going through an emotional turmoil after that last wicket of Rajeshwari Gayakwad.
So near yet so far.
But as the time holds all the healing power, players and the spectators around the world started to cope up with the situation.
After WWC’17 Indian Women Cricket Team in T-20 and ODI
|
Format |
Match |
Win |
Lose |
Tie / NR/AB |
Win % |
|
WODI |
9 |
4 |
5 |
0 |
44.44 |
|
WT20 |
15 |
8 |
6 |
1 |
53.33 |
The gap of 7 months and Indian team traveled South Africa for the bilateral ODI and T-20 series which were part of the ICC Women’s Championship.
Indian Women team defeated the World Cup semi-finalist the ODI series 2-1 and the T-20 series 3-1. Smriti Mandhana who lost her form during the WC last year proved herself again with a brilliant 135 which eventually became her highest score in Women’s ODI. Apart from the batters the bowling department also proved their class to torn apart the experienced RSA batting line-up which comprised both experienced and amateurs.
In the T20s, a young Indian side turned out to be more dominant side in all the departments. Apart from the 4th match in which fiery Shabnim Ismail in her second spell took 4 wickets, RSA bowling attack comprised with Kapp, Ismail, Daniels, Klass, Niekerk, looked ordinary. The bowling attack which makes the RSA a side to reckon with failed to deliver as expected in both the series, resulting in the defeat at their own backyard.
Top 5 Indian Batters in T-20 after WWC’17
|
Player |
Match |
Inn |
NO |
Run |
Ball faced |
Av. |
Best |
Strike Rate |
50/100 |
|
Mandhana |
15 |
14 |
1 |
433 |
319 |
33.3 |
76 |
135.7 |
4/0 |
|
Raj |
14 |
13 |
3 |
415 |
388 |
41.5 |
97* |
106.5 |
5/0 |
|
Kaur |
15 |
14 |
5 |
393 |
352 |
43.6 |
56 |
111.6 |
1/0 |
|
Rodrigues |
09 |
6 |
0 |
145 |
122 |
24.1 |
50 |
118.5 |
1/0 |
|
Krishnamurthy |
11 |
8 |
3 |
137 |
103 |
27.4 |
37* |
133.0 |
0/0 |
Top 5 Indian Batters in WODI after WWC’17
|
Player |
Match |
Inn |
NO |
Run |
Ball faced |
Av. |
Best |
Strike Rate |
50/100 |
|
Mandhana |
9 |
9 |
0 |
531 |
583 |
59.00 |
135 |
135.7 |
5/1 |
|
Raj |
8 |
8 |
1 |
183 |
314 |
26.11 |
74* |
106.5 |
1/0 |
|
Kaur |
9 |
8 |
1 |
171 |
265 |
24.26 |
55 |
111.6 |
1/0 |
|
Sharma |
9 |
8 |
2 |
269 |
405 |
44.83 |
79 |
118.5 |
2/0 |
|
Krishnamurthy |
8 |
8 |
1 |
151 |
180 |
21.00 |
56 |
133.0 |
1/0 |
Victorious Indian side returned to their home to meet the challenges of two dominant sides in the modern women’s cricket. But to their utter disappointment, they failed miserably in the very first series against the mighty Southern Starts.
No one apart from Mandhana, hit a 50 which hurt the Indians even more. Indian batting line-up was dependent a lot on the broad shoulders of Raj and Kaur, failed to fire in the close moment of the match leaving the lower middle order and the tail-enders to face the fiery bowling of the Aussies. Debutant Jemimah and Deepti tried but that was not enough. Though Verma and Vastrakar showed their ability here and there but at the same time it left all of us with a pertinent question whether Indian tail-enders can add 30+ runs under their kitty in death overs.
Now if we look at the bowling department, it’s the same story just like the batting. In the RSA series, the bowling look very decent. But that too was not up to the mark against the 6 times World Champion. They picked up 18 wickets including 4 run-outs. The spinners were not up to the mark which costed the team most.
When spin trio of Gardner, Jonassen and Wellington picked up 18 wickets in 3 matches, Indian spinner picked up 9 wickets combined together. So the Southern star middle order got settled and piled up huge totals. At the same time, sloppy fielding was another area of concern. Fielders dropped valuable catches which costed India the match.
India replicated the same miserable show in the tri-series where except the last match they were beaten severely by both the Aussies and the English teams.
The series between India and England witnessed the much improved bowling and batting display. Though Indian women clinched the series victory by 2-1, the matches witnessed some nail-biting finishes. In the very first match chasing 209 run to win India, despite Mandhana’s valiant 86, needed 19 run with a lone wicket in hand. And unlike the world cup final Indian tail-enders (Ekta and Poonam) maintained their composure and won the match.
Though India lost the 2nd match they came back strong to clinch the 3rd match and eventually the series by 8 wickets with the help of unbeaten partnership of 179 between Raj and Deepti Sharma.
The T-20 Asia Cup which was seen as the preparation camp for the upcoming T-20 World Cup in November this year was a major setback for the team. Though they won the match against teams like Thailand, Pakistan, Sri-lanka, Malaysia but their unbeaten streak was disturbed by the Bangladesh who played fearless cricket in the entire tournament.
Both India and Bangladesh met in the final and India was able to make only 112 that too because of the well made 56 from the skipper Harmanpreet herself. Bangladesh achieved the target in the very final ball of the match. Though the match ended in a nail-biting finish, it led to the end of monopoly of India in Asia Cup.
Top 4 Indian Bowlers in T-20 after WWC’17
|
Player |
Match |
Over |
Run |
Wicket |
Average |
Economy |
Strike rate |
Best |
|
Poonam |
15 |
54 |
303 |
19 |
15.94 |
5.61 |
17.05 |
4/9 |
|
Patil |
13 |
46.3 |
314 |
12 |
26.16 |
4.55 |
23.25 |
2/9 |
|
Vastrakar |
11 |
33 |
222 |
12 |
18.5 |
6.72 |
16.5 |
3/6 |
|
Deepti |
10 |
36.2 |
193 |
9 |
21.44 |
5.21 |
24.22 |
2/16 |
Top 5 Indian Bowlers in WODI after WWC’17
|
Player |
Match |
Over |
Run |
Wicket |
Average |
Economy |
Strike rate |
Best |
|
Poonam |
9 |
80.5 |
350 |
16 |
21.80 |
4.33 |
30.31 |
4/24 |
|
Pandey |
7 |
53.2 |
282 |
9 |
31.33 |
5.32 |
35.55 |
3/23 |
|
Goswami |
5 |
38.2 |
139 |
8 |
17.37 |
3.65 |
28.75 |
4/24 |
|
Bisht |
5 |
45 |
196 |
8 |
24.50 |
4.35 |
33.75 |
3/49 |
|
Deepti |
10 |
71 |
328 |
7 |
46.85 |
4.61 |
60.85 |
2/25 |
The changes, though minimal, were multifaceted in the sphere of Women Cricket in India. After the success in WWC’17 the popularity increased and the women cricketers got some kind of recognition. At the same time, there were increase in the number of players who came under the central contracts. The money increased and Indian women cricketers became the highest paid women cricketers among the entire cricketing nations.
Another classic moment was the foundation of a Women’s IPL through an exhibition match during IPL play-off match. 26 international cricketers including the players from Australia, England and New Zealand took part in the one-off exhibition match. Despite the heat and humidity in Mumbai alongside with the mismanagement of the board, the Trail Blazers and SuperNovas gave their 100% in the field which resulted in another last ball nail-biting finish.
A year which witnessed several beautiful moments, it projected the prospect of women’s cricket in India if accepted seriously. India will now be eyeing at T20 World Cup to be held in November this year. Till then, keep supporting, keep rooting for the Women in Blue.