Women’s Cricket World Cup 2022: Harmanpreet’s form, death bowling problems — hits and misses from India’s campaign

Ahead of the 2022 World Cup, India were expected to beat West Indies, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, which they did. They also needed to win at least one match against the pre-tournament favourites for semi-final spots – Australia, England, South Africa, and New Zealand. They failed to do that, which led to an obvious, logical group-stage exit.

Of course, India can point at ‘luck’, which definitely went in the way of West Indies, whose match against South Africa was washed out. However, what cannot be denied that despite losing to Pakistan, West Indies managed to beat both England and New Zealand, both of whom easily beat India.

While most things did not go India’s way, they have things to look forward to as well. Here are some takeaways from the World Cup, either way.

‘Thor’ is back: When Australia last lost a match in the World Cup, in the 2017 semi-final, it was due to Harmanpreet Kaur’s once-in-a-lifetime 171 not out. Question marks were raised over her selection when she scored 639 runs at 27.78 (strike rate 69) between the two World Cups. In this tournament, she had 318 runs at 53 (strike rate 92), 8-0-42-2, and five catches, and fielded brilliantly. The interim period might not have even happened.

All-rounders deliver: Over years, one perennial problem India had suffered from was a lack of all-rounders, which often delayed their final onslaught in the ‘death overs’. Even Deepti Sharma’s presence did not resolve the problem. Now, with Pooja Vastrakar and Sneh Rana stepping up, Sharma still around, Kaur available to bowl if needed, and Richa Ghosh being good enough to play as a batter alone, that problem is solved.

Yastika arrives: Her lack of big scores remains a concern, but there is little doubt that Yastika Bhatia is as versatile as any young batter in ODIs. She took charge of the initial onslaught against West Indies in Shafali Varma’s absence, and dropped anchor against Australia. Last year, in Mackay, she made a sublime 67 at nearly a run a ball when India famously ended Australia’s streak.

Death-bowling problems remain: Across history, only six times have India failed to defend a target in excess of 260. All six have come since March 2021, the last four since mid-February. While it is true that all fifty overs carry equal weightage while defending a target, four incidents in six weeks is probably too frequent an incident to ignore. India need death-over specialists, a skill bowlers can hone in a competitive Women’s IPL.

Strike bowlers matter: The Indian bowling attack, while competent, were found wanting against the stronger sides. While they did stem the flow of runs from time to time, they did not strike frequently enough to trouble the opposition, who found their way back.

Of India’s five three-wicket hauls in the tournament, one came against each of Pakistan, Bangladesh, and West Indies, and a fourth too late while defending a low total against England. There was hardly a spell against a major side that turned a match on its head. With Jhulan Goswami’s career approaching an end and Poonam Yadav not at her best, the problem is likely to persist. Perhaps it is time to return to Shikha Pandey, someone who has fallen out of favour of selectors.

Selection and strategy issues: India chose to overlook Varma’s ordinary form in their first match, against Pakistan, presumably due to her ability to wreak havoc at the top. They dropped her after one match, which was probably a couple of matches too soon.

India came into the tournament with Deepti Sharma as their premier all-rounder: her role in the batting line-up remains uncertain to this day, even after the World Cup. It is something that should have been addressed and resolved long ahead of the tournament.

Abhishek Mukherjee is the Chief Editor at CricketNews and co-author of Sachin and Azhar at Cape Town

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