Outgoing national women’s team chief selector Hemlata Kala feels that the players inability to handle pressure in big finals has hurt the Indian teams chances of winning a major ICC trophy and but is confident that Harmanpreet Kaur is the best person to lead the team to glory.
“Players have to be ready to play the big games. But they were not despite having a good mix of youth and experience. May be, they were under pressure,” said Kala, who was appointed as a selector in 2015 before she became the panel chief in 2016.
During her tenure, the Indian team reached the finals of the 2017 World Cup and 2020 T20 World Cup and have taken huge strides towards being counted among the top nations in the world. However, the losses in the final still rankle the 44-year-old.
“In 2017, it was a massive batting collapse too. We were 191 for three, chasing 229 but we were not able to. There was no reason to panic but we did. We beat Australia in the semifinals with Harmanpreet playing a blinder and we also beat them in the league of World T20 next year.
“And the issue of handling pressure remains till date though the team is fully capable of going all the way and has shown that by beating top teams (Australia and England) regularly. We tend to falter in the final, pressure has played a role in that,” said Kala, who represented India in 78 ODIs and seven Tests.
The 44-year-old, however, did not subscribe to former India skipper Shantha Rangaswamy’s view soon after India T20 World Cup loss about Harmanpreet should not be burdened with the pressure of leading the team.
“I don’t think there is any better leader than Harman in the current squad. Performance is different, it can go up and down, but it is equally important to have a leader in the group.
“She thinks like one and should continue in T20s and take over from Mithali once she retires from ODIs. That was the thinking of our panel.”
However, Kala doesn’t agree with Harmanpreet’s view that India are 5-6 years behind the mighty Australians.
“I won’t agree with that but if it is about handling pressure in big games, Australia are used to handling pressure, we are not. We beat them in 2017 (semis), 2018 (league stage) and now also we beat them in the league stage in the last edition.
“Like I said, we need to figure out how to handle pressure in finals. I am hopeful the team breaks the jinx in the 2021 ODI World Cup,” she said.
Though Kala’s tenure as chief selector had many high points, the one controversy that left many wondering what was happening with the Indian team when Mithali was dropped from the 2018 World T20 in the West Indies semifinal.
“I can’t say much about what happened there. We have no role in selecting the 11, our job is to pick the best 15,” she sidestepped the issue.
However, Kala is proud that she gave opportunities to the likes of Jemimah Rodrigues and Shafali Verma.
Speaking about Verma, Kala felt the youngster needs to work on her fitness to excel at the highest level.
“When I saw her for the first time in an Under-23 game in Rajkot last year, I was sure she would go on to win the World Cup for India. She almost did that for us in Australia.
Looking forward, Kala backed the team to end the world title drought in New Zealand next year and said a four-team IPL would be ideal for the moment.
“BCCI has done a good job with the Women’’s T20 Challenge but I don’t think we are ready for more than four teams. It will take another two-three years before we can have a six-team IPL.
“It is not just about playing, standard of cricket should be high and entertaining so it attracts the fans. So many people started watching the women’s game after Harman scored 171 in the 2017 World Cup semifinal,” she added.