Indian women’s cricket team head coach, Purnima Rau, says that the star cricketer, Mithali Raj (who was named player of the tournament), has taken her game to the next level with her sublime skills and helped the team win the Asia Cup in Bangkok on Sunday.
In an exclusive interview with The Hindu from Bangkok, the 49-year-old Purnima says that winning the Asia Cup (she has never been there) is special given the fact that they had beaten Pakistan twice — first in the league phase chasing and then in the final defending a modest target. “If the first win was special then the triumph in the final was the icing on the cake. It has been a brilliant all-round performance with Mithali clearly being the lead performer,” she added.
On Mithali being the opener, Purnima pointed out that she always believed that the team’s best batter should get to face the maximum of 20 overs. “There are no second thoughts in this regard. It doesn’t mean someone butchering the bowlers but the emphasis can be on piercing the gaps. And, Mithali clearly demonstrated she belonged to a different class once again and was the silent assassin at the crease,” the coach remarked.
Questioned whether there is some concern that Mithali continues to be the lead performer, Purnima did not agree with this saying that there have been pretty useful contributions from someone like Veda Krishnamurthy, Smriti Mandhana, Harmanpreet Kaur. “I must say that there is less pressure on the big players like Mithali and Jhulan because of the handy contributions from the others. This is one of the biggest positives for Indian women’s cricket now,” she explained.“Essentially, the willingness of each and every player to keep improving, the intensity in preparations in the nets, the camaraderie during the trips from hotel to the ground all paved for great team spirit and helped the team put up a collective effort,” the former India captain said.
“I must say that the spin quartet of Ekta Bisht, Preeti Bose, Anuja Patil and Poonam Yadav did a great job in the middle-overs. In a T20 format it is not just taking wickets for even the number of dot balls are equally important to put pressure. I am glad that these slow bowlers complemented the pacers so well,” Purnima said to a query.
“Overall, this has been a very good year for Indian women’s cricket and I am pleased to be part of this evolution of a successful unit since 2014. It is really pleasing that I could play my own bit in the team’s run of success of late,” says the articulate women’s coach.
For me too, personally, the Asia Cup will remain special for it happens to be my sixth major win as the coach. “Yes, I won’t say this is the high point of my coaching stint for I still believe beating the formidable Aussies in their backyard was truly memorable and this Asia Cup will be special for sure too,” she observed.
What next? “We have the qualifiers in Colombo next February for the 2017 ODI World Cup to be held in England next May. That is the big dream we are all chasing. And, given the wonderful run we have had of late, we can realise. Yes, with the BCCI taking a final call on the venue of the preparatory camp, we are going to really work hard to achieve this goal,” Purnima concluded.
