34-8.
As far as win-loss records go, the above figure is quite overwhelming. One thing’s for sure: India haven’t enjoyed much success at all over the years against world champions Australia, who are their opponents in the Women’s World Cup semi-finals on Thursday.
The odds tip even more in Australia’s favour when you look at recent history. India have only won once in their last eight meetings against Australia. The world champions have won the tournament a record six times and failed to reach the final only twice in 10 editions. India have made the final only once and lost to – who else? – Australia in 2005.
The long and short of it is this: India have a mountain to climb.
But brooding on this should be the last thing Mithali Raj and her team should do. Dwelling on past results will only induce fear and brood negativity. For all talk of form and reputation, it all depends on how the team performs on the one given day.
On the day, on the match
And it looks like the captain is listening.
“It’s all about how the teams respond to the situation and the conditions on the day,” she said at the pre-match presser.
But let’s be brutally honest here: India have been wildly unpredictable in this tournament. They roared off the blocks defeating hosts and now finalists England and took Pakistan and West Indies to the cleaners. The world sat up and watched this marauding new Indian team with an explosive opener at the top, a cool, calculative captain and a barrage of mystery spinners.
But then the explosive opener fizzled out, the captain started looking confused and the mystery spinners started losing their effectiveness. Two dreary defeats later, they found another firecracker in the form of Veda Krishnamurthy who played, perhaps the innings of the tournament, to propel India to an inspiring win over New Zealand and into the semi-finals.
Not always perfect
But one thing, they can take a little bit of heart from is that even Australia, flamboyant and fearsome as they are, haven’t always fired on all cylinders in this tournament. More specifically, they have a problem with extras: 32, including 23 wides against England in the only match which they lost this tournament and the only team innings which had more than 30 extras. This has been an issue which has cropped up in other matches as well – Australia conceded 25 extras against New Zealand and 21 against Pakistan.
But India’s batters will need to ensure that Australia are made to pay for their tardiness and that is where the oft-used “intent” comes in. Against New Zealand, India’s intent was summed up their domination in all departments of the games. They played like champions, going for the kill, not letting any interruption cloud their intensity. The results were there for all to see – a century after three years from Mithali Raj, the fastest fifty by an Indian at the World Cup by Veda Krishnamurthy and figures of 5/15 from Rajeshwari Gayakwad.
Dynamism is the need of the hour
Make no mistake, that same kind of intensity, if not more, will be required against Australia. More than anything, dynamism is a trait India will have to show more. Solid and effective will do the trick – Punam Raut can continue to play her steady game at the top of the order but India’s batters cannot just let pressure build up by defending balls pat back to the keeper. Australia have a strong, effective batting line-up – three of their batters are in the top three of One-Day International women’s rankings while Nicole Bolton is at the No 11 spot.
The point is, if India’s batters do step up, then Mithali Raj will be in more than a good chance of making her second final. The bowling unit has been India’s stronger suit this tournament and with enough runs to play with, don’t put it past them to make life things very difficult for Australia. Rajeshwari Gayakwad replaced Ekta Bisht in the best way possible against New Zealand to keep India’s spin supremacy on track, while even Jhulan Goswami and Shikha Pandey finally came to the party with two early wickets.
Ultimately? Yes, India have a mountain to climb. But it’s not insurmountable. Over to you, Mithali.
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