London: July 23, did not turn out to be a repeat of June 25, 1983 – the day India won the men’s cricket World Cup for the first time. That has been marked as the turning point in the men’s category of the game in India.
The women failed to do what their men counterparts had done a little more than 32 years ago. They went down by a mere nine runs in the final of the ICC Women’s World Cup at Lord’s here Sunday. Nine may be a very small figure, but in the end to get those nine runs turned out to be infinitely impossible for the Women in Blue.
Sports can be cruel, very cruel at times. This was the last World Cup for two of India’s legends in women’s cricket – skipper Mithali Raj and pace bowler Jhulan Goswami. While one holds the record of highest run-getter in ODIs, the other has in her kitty the highest number of wickets. But they both craved for a World Cup winner’s medal. Sadly, they will have to end their careers without that piece of silverware adorning their trophy cabinet.
But then both have left behind a group of nine others about who India can dream about when the next World Cup comes around. The likes of Punam Raut, Deepti Sharma, Harmanpreet Kaur, Rajeshwari Gayakwad and Poonam Yadav will definitely be discussed more than their men counterparts – at least for a week. They have established women’s cricket firmly in the minds of the Indian cricket fans. In that way, they are possibly winners even after finishing runners-up in the World Cup.
Could anybody have imagined even six months ago, that betel shop owner sitting at a remote street corner, or an auto-rickshaw driver would watch a women’s cricket match on their mobiles? But then that is exactly what happened Sunday.
There will be debates as to why the Indian girls failed after being so near to their dream. To put it succinctly, they failed due to inexperience. Nine of the 11 who took the field at Lord’s never had the feel of playing a World Cup final and that mattered. Nerves deserted the Indian eves after the dismissal of top-scorer Punam Raut. The England bowlers did not get them out, on the other hand the eves committed hara-kiri to hand over the World Cup to the opposition. But they shouldn’t be blamed, instead lauded, they made the country proud and took women’s cricket into the Indian housewives’ kitchens.
Cricket is all a game of taking chances that come your way. The turning point of the game probably was when Raut developed cramps during the 40th over of the Indian innings. It suddenly affected the momentum and when she fell leg before to England pacer Anya Shrubsole (6/46) due to the lack of footwork, the floodgates opened for the hosts. It was inexperience that prompted Veda Krishnamurthy (35 off 34b) to go for an ungainly hoik and get caught at mid-wicket, it was the same inexperience which saw Sikha Pandey getting needlessly run out with only 11 needed from 15 deliveries. The Indian faces, both on field and in the gallery which had smiles of hopes, suddenly disappeared. The writing then was clear on the wall.
Debates will continue, commiserations will pour in, but then the Indian eves shouldn’t feel bad after finishing runners-up. Modern sport doesn’t allow the term ‘gallant loser’… no such sentiments. Yet amidst all this, the likes of Jhulan, Mithali, Harmanpreet and all have ignited the passion for women’s cricket in India. And when that happens a World Cup title can’t be far away. Mithali’s brigade may have finished second best Sunday, but even then they are Winners nevertheless.
Kudos to them.
