Indian women’s team will be up against Australian side in the second semi-final of the ICC Women’s World Cup 2017 on Thursday at Derby. India marched their way into the semi-final after beating New Zealand in a do-or-die match by 186 runs in their last round-robin match.
India won five out of their seven matches and lost two. One of their defeats came against Australia. Though Meg Lanning’s side have defeated India earlier in the tournament, India’s former skipper Anjum Chopra feels that Mithali Raj’s team have the ability to beat Australia in Thursday’s clash.
“Yes, I think India can beat Australia,” Chopra was quoted as saying ESPNcricinfo. “When I say that, I am not just being hopeful that India should be in a final. The reason I say that is, I’ve always felt that anytime you get into a quarter-final or a semi-final, there’s always one match that as a team you need to play well together, even if they are the current world champions.
“Definitely they are a beatable side. Yes they have been world champions often, so they’ve seen themselves as an Australian team in this situation many more times than the Indian team. So yes, the confidence is there, they know how to come to this stage and how to conquer this stage, which will apparently be missing in the Indian line-up, she added.
Talking about the Indian line up, Chopra suggested that somebody like Smriti Mandhana might play a key role as she is someone who can attack in the initial stages of the innings.
“Against an Australian line-up where Smriti as an attacking left-hander will be required to come good at the top, I don’t think the Indian team will be looking at that change,” she said. “As players, we have seen ourselves go in and out of form.
In the last four days, the Indian team would have had the time to relax, if required, or go and hit the nets. I think four days is good enough time for any cricketer to make that turnaround. At the top, that strong partnership that India can come up with it, like they did against England, I think that will be very crucial.”
“At this level, it is a mental game,” Chopra said. “It is not just about realising that you are playing for India, it’s about making your presence felt that you are an Indian player, where the world is actually watching and following you. Veda, of course, has good shots down the ground, she has the power to clear the field as well. You just have to make sure that as a player you give yourself enough time to get yourself in such a position that you can play in an attacking way. Harman, too, wasn’t getting enough time out in the middle, she got it against New Zealand and she really made it count,” said Chopra.
Mentioning about a defendable total, the former skipper said that an excess of 250-260 would be a decent one.
“All these tactics will come into play if the Indian team is able to put up a good score in excess of 250-260 on the board and then come out defending it,” she said. “I am not a big fan of bowling the second over in English conditions with a spinner, no matter what the wicket is like. I still feel in these conditions the first few overs should be bowled by the quicks. In women’s cricket, only one ball is used throughout the innings, so the shine of the ball can only be utilised in those initial overs, not later, the former Indian cricketer added.
Hailing the kind of response that the tournament has been getting, she labelled it ‘phenomenal’ and even appreciated the support coming from male cricketers on social media.
“It is wonderful to see the response back home,” she said. “I have to confess I never expected it. I knew it would be a very big coverage before the start of the World Cup or before the build-up but the way the response has come about, I think it is phenomenal.
The reason is the Indian team is winning and also that the men aren’t playing a series presently! Even the men’s cricketers, their support coming in the form of tweets, with encouraging words to the players, it has been phenomenal.”
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