India gets knocked out of the T20 Womens World Cup in a heart-breaking decision; tactical re-think needed said coach Muzumdar
India's six-wicket defeat against South Africa was arguably the match that cost them a semi-final place.
XtraTime Newsdesk: India’s exit from the Women's T20 World Cup was heartbreaking. They were one win away from qualifying for the semis. Unfortunately, the one team they had to win against was Australia. The Indian team, unfortunately, didn’t look like a modern T20 team, by any standard.
Looking back, India's six-wicket defeat against South Africa was arguably the match that cost them a semi-final place.
India entered the tournament as one of the favourites and had begun strongly against Pakistan and the Netherlands. However, against South Africa they failed to capitalize after posting a competitive total. But Mariazanne Kapp absorbed the pressure and then accelerated to deliver the match for her team.
That created a big disadvantage for the team. India had one of their better batting displays by scoring 170/4 in 20 overs but Ellyse Perry and Ashleigh Gardener’s match winning century stand led Australia to a historic win. India didn’t have the clutch performances Australia did.
There needs to be a rethink of the approach as well. Coach Amol Muzumdar said as much. The lack of a power hitter at the top affects the team a lot. The only hitter the team has is Richa Ghosh, who comes at No.6. Hence, they can't take advantage of the powerplay and the middle overs as much.
The lack of good bowling in the death overs also bit them in the back. It allowed teams like Australia and South Africa to get away and beat India. There needs to be flexibility in bowling plans.
This Indian team is great but needs a tactical re-think. They lost due to a few moments going against them. It doesn’t make them a bad team but it’s still a team that needs to change its approach to the game. ODIs are not T20s. This is something they have to understand.
