While Australia and England have won 11 out of 12 editions of the ICC Women’s ODI World Cup that begins in Guwahati on Tuesday, Harmanpreet & Co’s recent form and home advantage suggests this could be India’s...
Indian players celebrate an Australian wicket during the 2nd ODI in Chandigarh recently. Pic/Getty Images
Will No. 13 turn out to be lucky for the Indian women’s cricket team? They have participated in all 12 editions of the ICC Women’s World Cup (50 overs), but the title has remained elusive. Twice they have come close to clinching it, but lost the final to Australia in 2005 and to England in 2017. Now, when India is hosting the mega event for the fourth time, the question on everyone’s lips is: ‘Will India finally break the jinx and lift the World Cup on November 2?’
Not an easy task for hosts
By no stretch of the imagination is it going to be easy and they will have to use every sinew despite playing on home turf. Their biggest challengers are Australia and England, who have dominated the 50-over event, winning it 11 out of 12 times between them (seven wins for Australia, four for England). The only other champion besides the two has been New Zealand at home in 2000. However, the recent display of the Indian women has given rise to optimism and many experts feel that this is their best chance to end the dry run.
The optimism has come from the recent three-match one-day series against Australia, where, despite losing the series 1-2, their display has been heart-warming. The stars have been opener Smriti Mandhana and skipper Harmanpreet Kaur. Much of India’s chances would rest on how well the experienced duo perform during the long-drawn event, in which eight teams are set to play each other once in a round-robin format, with the top four teams qualifying for the semi-finals. On current form and rating, India should cruise through to the last four, and that’s where the real challenge will begin.
Besides, India will have to overcome a huge burden of expectations, with all their matches, barring the one against Pakistan, to be played in front of the home crowd, who are expecting nothing but a win in each game and to ultimately claim the trophy.
For all of the players, barring Harmanpreet, playing in a home ODI World Cup is going to be a new experience. But head coach Amol Muzumdar isn’t worried about that aspect. “There is always going to be pressure playing international cricket [at home]. Our girls are used to it now. We have played a lot of home series in the last two years. Be it the expectations, or the crowd pressure, they are all used to it. Actually, as repetitive as I can get, we are all looking forward to this World Cup with optimism,” the head coach said.
He further stated, “There is no doubt that it’s going to be a tough tournament. But we will focus on ourselves and we have given a lot of importance to how we have prepared ourselves. From here on, how we plan, and how we are going to execute, that will be the main aim. We always try to focus internally. As a team, as a complete unit, we are all looking forward to playing against the top teams and going all the way.”
No room for error
Among the participating eight teams, India are third in the ICC women’s ODI rankings behind Australia and England, and are followed by New Zealand and South Africa at four and five. The other three are co-hosts Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh. India, thus, cannot take things lightly, as any slip-up can bring their dreams crashing down.
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