Time for Harmanpreet Kaur and her Women in Blue to carve out their very own 1983 World Cup moment

25 June 1983– is there any other date that is more significant than this in the history of Indian cricket? Has there been any other day than that Saturday in the summer of 1983 that has captured the imagination of the country as it did?

Well! One might turn around and say that it’s not like India had not won anything before that epic, unfathomable triumph in 1983 against the mean, ruthless (scary) winning juggernaut masquerading as the Clive Lloyd-led West Indian side! Of course, it had. It had won in New Zealand in 1967-68, it had completed a rare double by beating West Indies and England in their own den in 1971 amidst numerous wins at home.

But, cricket still hadn’t become a rage in this country. It still hadn’t swept people off their feet. In short, it still hadn’t become a religion. That all changed on that evening of June 25, 1983, when Kapil’s Devils defied the (humongous) odds by pulling off an upset of epic proportions to win the Prudential World Cup.

On February 21, 2020, Harmanpreet Kaur and her Women in Blue will take on another once-in-a-generation side- Australia- with the hope of doing what Kapil Dev and his side to Men’s cricket- Inspire a whole host of ten-year-old girls by winning their first World Cup.

But, can India Women do it?

Unlike Kapil Dev’s team of 1983, the Harmanpreet Kaur-led Women in Blue aren’t underdogs heading into the 2020 T20 World Cup. In fact, along with hosts Australia and England, they are one of the prime contenders to win the title.

But once again, it is their temperament and the ability to handle pressure situations- something they have been guilty of- that will once again decide whether they end their campaign on another ‘so close yet so far’ note or as champions basking in glory.

The ‘Harman’ factor in India’s batting

Just like their Men’s counterparts, Indian batting is like a beautiful body which is bereft of its soul or as someone would say- with a soft underbelly (middle-order). And, their mixed record- 10 wins and as many defeats- since the last T20 World Cup.

Their top-3- the ever-so consistent Smriti Mandhana, who is the leading run-scorer in the world since the last T20 WC- 621 runs at a strike-rate of 128 57- since the last T20 WC in the West Indies, the 15-year-old Shafali Verma– 324 runs at a strike-rate of 140.86- and the feisty Jemimah Rodrigues- 384 runs at a strike-rate of 100.26- are like a Ferrari running on a highway but they sadly followed by a bullock cart masquerading as their middle-order.

And, India has experienced in the past two World events- 50-over WC in 2017 and T20 WCA in 2018- how a soft underbelly can lead to heartbreak in crunch situations. But, unfortunately, things haven’t really changed since then.

Since the 2o18 World Cup, India’s 4-7 has managed a sum total of 751 runs at an average of 15 and strike rate of 89, and skipper Harmanpreet Kaur’s patchy form [249 runs at 22.63 and a strike-rate of 95 76] followed by the abysmal returns by Veda Krishnamurthy [145 runs at an average of 20.71 and a strike-rate of 98.63] have been at the heart of their middle-order woes.

Harman is a big match player. She has shown that in the past world events against Australia [171] and New Zealand [101] and while she did show signs of returning to form in the recently concluded tri-series where she steered her side past the finishing line in their run-chase of 148 against England, the Indian captain once again failed [14 off 16 balls] to close out a run-chase in the finals against Australia. If India has to win the World Cup, Harman- the big-stage player- will have to step-up. But will she?

Spinners to win it again for India Women?

Once again, it will be India’s spinners who will be laid with the responsibility to put a stranglehold on the opposition batters. If you look at the leading wicket-takers for India since the last World Cup, four of the first five positions are occupied by the spinners.

Deepti Sharma and Radha Yadav are the joint-highest wicket-takers- 26 at an average of 15.42 and 16.38 respectively – while leg-spinner Poonam Yadav, who claimed 3-20 in the warm-up game against West Indies and Rajeshwari Gayakwad, who emerged as the leading wicket-taker (10 wickets) in the tri-series, occupy the third and fourth spot with 16 and 10 wickets respectively.

But as India found out in the last edition, they just can’t rely on their spinners and with the conditions in Australia ideally suited to fast bowling, the lack of enough fast bowling options could come back to haunt them in conditions like Perth.

That is where the role of Shikha Pandey will be crucial. Pandey, who was left out of the last edition, is the fifth-highest wicket-taker [10 wickets] will have to bear the brunt of spearheading the pace-attack with Arundhati Reddy and Pooja Vastrakar as the back-up options.

A chance to carve out a legacy

The 2017 50-over  World Cup in England served as a huge fillip for Indian Women cricket. Their fearless brand of cricket captured the imagination of the entire country and since then, we have seen an increased focus on Women’s cricket; the likes of Smriti Mandhana, Harmanpreet Kaur, Jemimah Rodrigues, Poonam Yadav became household names and the talks of a Women IPL too started to garner steam. In fact, India’s contract too jumped from Rs 15 Lakhs to Rs 50 Lakhs and they started playing home and away on a consistent basis.

That said, Women Cricket still has a long way to go. And, that was testified when we saw the gross disparity between annual contract retainers for men and women. Smriti Mandhana made a pertinent point when asked about the disparity-

Mandhana knows it by experience. She knows winning creates visibility which in turn creates value. And, value eventually translates into revenue. And, this World cup gives this batch of Women cricketers another chance to bring about a revolution- not only for themselves but for the future generations.

They must understand that their moment of truth is now, for if they do manage to breach the barrier, it will not only pave way for a huge soar in their stocks but also inspire a whole host of ten-year-olds in the same manner like it did the likes of Sachin Tendulkar and the succeeding generation of men’s cricketers post that summer of 1983.