The loss may have been crushing and devastating for fans who were convinced the Cup was India’s but the lessons have been huge too. For former India captain Shubhangi Kulkarni, the journey at the ICC T20 women’s World Cup was nothing short of “glory on the best stage.”
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Speaking to The Hindu from California, she insisted there was no reason to feel “gloomy” at the 85-run defeat against Australia on Sunday. “The gap between the teams looks big when you see the end result but the same girls beat Australia in the opening match. It only confirms the spectacular progress India has made in the last one year.”
Shubhangi pointed out the lack of support from players like Harmanpreet Kaur (30 in five innings) and Smriti Mandhana (49 in four).
Good fielding
“The star players did not perform. It hurt the team. Imagine what would have happened had they scored? I must say the Indian fielding was far better than most other teams. Earlier, fitness and fielding were issues. Not this time.”
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“Shafali (Verma) gave us great starts but most batters missed out on taking ones and twos. They kept getting out to shots in the air. Maybe, Smriti could have been cautious. Don’t forget Alyssa Healy got an early reprieve. All this in hindsight, though.”
Shubhangi, who played 19 Tests and 27 ODIs in a 15-year career starting 1976, wanted the team to have a good mental trainer. “This is one field I thought they need to concentrate on. Playing on a big stage like MCG, in front of such a big crowd, the girls could have gained from some guidance to manage their nerves. These things count.”
To capitalise on the good work by the team, Shubhangi backed the idea of an IPL for women. “Australians learnt to play in front of huge crowds because of the Big Bash. We can have a women’s IPL to encourage the girls as not many comfortable to the thought of playing in front of huge audience. An IPL would give financial security and attract more youngsters to look at a career in cricket.”
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Shubhangi, 60, emphasised “you need to have a proper under-16 competition. Have to get them to play matches at an early age and not just spend time in the nets. The game is growing fast. Recently, we had a tournament in Pune where 20 teams participated.
The demands for bats (Harrow size) in my shophas been growing. This is the best time for women’s cricket with very good facilities and money. How I wish I was a 13 year old!”
