The Indian Women's Cricket Team Looks To Win Its Maiden T20 World Cup

With a mix of experience and exuberance, the Indian women’s team looks to lift its maiden ICC T20 title.

- Neeru Bhatia

Days before leaving for Guyana for the ICC World T20, to be held from November 9 to 24, the Women in Blue fine-tuned their strategy in a three-match series against Australia A in Mumbai. They swept the series.

As the last match wrapped up, a few of the players moved to the practice pitches, a few returned to the dressing room to watch videos of their performance, and a few were called over for a photo shoot and other “starry” activities. Team manager Trupti Chandgadkar Bhattacharya, a former cricketer and an Air India cabin crew manager, jotted down every detail in her notebook.

How things have changed for the women! No more living in the shadows of their perennially famous male counterparts. It started when they reached the final of the 2017 ICC World Cup. Though they lost, they got tremendous fanfare and support, and there were even talks of a women’s Indian Premier League.

If the fabulous five of men’s cricket are considered the architects of India’s modern-day golden era, Mithali Raj, Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana are doing the same for women’s cricket.

After the World Cup last year, the team has seen many ups and downs. The first four months saw several players recovering from injuries. Then there was the loss to Australia and England in a triangular home series in March, followed by two unexpected losses to Bangladesh in the Asia Cup in Kuala Lumpur. The most crucial aspect, however, was the coach. The women were dissatisfied with Tushar Arothe’s methods, which they made clear, and former India spinner Ramesh Powar was brought in. That the team has a spin-heavy bowling attack was also considered while appointing Powar.