3 positive takeaways from India's 2024 Women's T20 World Cup campaign
India's campaign in the 2024 Women's T20 World Cup came to an end following New Zealand's 54-run triumph over Pakistan in Dubai on Monday, October 14. The Women in Blue needed Pakistan to get the better of the White Ferns to progress to the knockouts. However, it wasn't to be as New Zealand booked their place in the Women's T20 World Cup semifinals for the first time since 2016.
India, though, have only themselves to blame for failing to make it to the semifinals from Group A. They came up with a below-par performance in their opening match against New Zealand in Dubai. The 58-run loss put the team on the back foot with regard to their hopes of qualifying for the knockout round of the 2024 Women's T20 World Cup.
The Women in Blue did well to register a six-wicket win over arch-rivals Pakistan and then thumped Sri Lanka by 82 runs. Their biggest challenge was, however, always going to be the clash against defending champions Australia. India were ragged in the field and allowed the Aussies to cross 150. They were disappointing with the bat as well, as a result of which they fell short of the target.
While India had a disappointing 2024 Women's T20 World Cup overall, there were a few positives for the Women in Blue. We detail three of them.
#1 Arundhati Reddy and Renuka Singh's consistency
Pacers Arundhati Reddy and Renuka Singh finished as Team India's joint-leading wicket-takers in the 2024 Women's T20 World Cup. While Reddy picked up seven wickets in four matches at an average of 12.85 and an economy rate of 6, Renuka also claimed seven scalps, averaging 12.85, with an economy rate of 5.62.
Reddy began her T20 World Cup campaign with figures of 1-28 in the loss to New Zealand. The 27-year-old was the Player of the Match for registering figures of 3-19 against Pakistan. The right-arm pace bowler picked up another three-fer against Sri Lanka as the Women in Blue hammered the Asia Cup champions. Reddy, however, went wicketless in the must-win clash against Australia.
Looking at Renuka's performance in the 2024 Women's T20 World Cup, she constantly provided the team with the early breakthroughs. The 28-year-old picked up 2-27 against New Zealand and 1-23 against Pakistan. She stifled Sri Lanka with figures of 2-16 and also picked two 2-24 against Australia, dismissing Beth Mooney and Georgia Wareham off consecutive deliveries.
#2 Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur’s defiant batting
Indian captain Harmanpreet Kaur has come in for some criticism from a few experts over her inability to finish the match against Australia. While some of her tactics can be questioned, what cannot be denied is the fact that she almost single-handedly carried the team's batting in the 2024 Women's T20 World Cup. As such, she was forced to rein herself in to an extent.
Harmanpreet ended the tournament as India's leading run-getter, with 150 runs from four matches at a strike rate of 133.92. The 35-year-old was dismissed for 15 off 14 against New Zealand before chipping in with 29 off 24 (retired hurt) against arch-rivals Pakistan in a key ecounter.
The Indian captain led from the front, clobbering 52* off 27 against Sri Lanka, with the aid of eight fours and a six. She top-scored for India in the chase against Australia as well, slamming six fours in her 54* off 47 balls. It wasn't among her most fluent knocks, but Harmanpreet held the innings together for India. Her hopes of lifting the T20 World Cup, though, were crushed due to lack of support.
#3 Impressive performance of spinners
While India may have failed to make a big impact in the 2024 Women's T20 World Cup, their spin bowlers did a good job overall. Leg-spinner Asha Sobhana, who was ruled out of the match against Australia at the last moment due to injury, picked up five wickets in three matches at an average of 13 and an economy rate of 5.41. She was brilliant with 3-19 in the game against Sri Lanka.
Off-spinner Shreyanka Patil also did a decent job, claiming four wickets at an average of 21 and an economy rate of 5.60. All-rounder Deepti Sharma also chipped in with four wickets at an average of 28.25 and an economy rate of 7.13. Despite the disappointment of not making the knockouts, Team India should be reasonably content with how their slow bowlers performed in the ICC event.