The recent ICC women’s T20 WC was a prime example of the young generation’s coming of age. Yes, they may have faltered when it mattered the most but the performances they put as a team earned them a special place in every fan’s heart. Playing under their star batter and captain, Harmanpreet Kaur, they conquered the best of teams, including mighty Australia in the group stage. Hailed as one of the greatest teams in the history of women’s cricket, Australia capitulated to the wily craft of the Indian spinners, especially Poonam Yadav.
Australia, however, bounced back the way a champion side is expected to, winning the trophy in front of a 90,000-odd crowd at the MCG. Did India miss a trick going into the final yet again, after their loss to hosts England in the 2017 WC final at Lord’s? Were they overawed by the occasion and lost the match even before it started? Did the senior pros let the team down in their 85-run loss?
Former Indian captain Anjum Chopra, in an exclusive chat with Sportskeeda, articulated how the Indian women’s team gained a lot despite a hammering in the final. Having been a part of disappointing WC losses herself (WC semi-final loss to NZ in 2000 and another agonising defeat at the hands of Australia in the 2005 WC), she hailed the current bunch of confident players for their brave fight at the highest possible stage in women’s cricket.
Learnings from the heartbreaking loss
Kaur and Smriti Mandhana, the two main batters in the Indian team, did not perform to their potential at the tournament. With neither of them managing to go past an individual score of 20 in the tournament, Chopra sounded a little critical of their performances.
But she emphasized that what matters is the way the senior pros bounce back from these setbacks, especially considering the media attention around both of them. She reiterated that the players who recover quickly from these failures and learn from their mistakes are the ones who are hailed as the greats of the game.
She wants this team of confident Bravehearts to learn from their experiences and imbibe in them the consistency of teams like England and Australia in ICC events. Chopra praised the lesser-known players like Radha Yadav, Rajeshwari Gayakwad and teenager Shafali Verma, who performed admirably despite having less or almost no experience in playing under such circumstances.
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