Indian women will have to learn from mistakes to win T20 World Cup, says Diana Edulji
The Indian women's team took part in a T20 tri-series featuring England and Australia in Australia and got enough chances to test their skills and team combination given that the T20 World Cup is to be played Down Under from February 21. Having reached the final of the tri-series, the Indian team faltered against Australia to lose the final by 11 runs.
Despite being in a position to win the game, India could not hold their nerves in crunch moments and that is what led to their downfall. Former Indian women's player Diana Edulji believes that India need to learn quickly from their mistakes if they are to have any chances of winning the showpiece event.
"This is a team that can win every game and it does win from an unlikely situation but the next game it is losing from a comfortable position like it did today. They are simply not consistent enough," Edulji was quoted as saying by PTI.
“They have all the facilities at their disposal now, at par with men, and yet they have not been able to play consistent cricket and win ICC trophies. If they play like the way they are playing, they will make the semifinals again (at T20 World Cup) but I don’t see them winning the trophy,” she further added.
Edulji believed that the running between the wickets should improve and that the players need to be disciplined enough to stop boundaries and take the catches that come their way. India have a strong opening combination in the form of Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana. But Edulji believes that the middle order of the Indian team, especially Jemimah Rodrigues and skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, need to take more responsibility.
“Both Harmanpreet and Jemimah need to pull up their socks. Maybe Harman should give up captaincy and play her natural game. Something seems to be troubling her. But who else takes over then. If Smriti is handed captaincy, it might affect her batting too,” Edulkji stated.