ODI World Cup: Can the Women in Blue be third time lucky tomorrow?

The air of anticipation is hard to miss as it’s time for the ICC Women’s World Cup final between hosts India and South Africa in Navi Mumbai on Sunday. The miracle of a chase against the mighty Aussies have brought Harmanpreet Kaur & Co on the cusp of history, while the bigger picture is women’s ODI cricket will have a new champion come late evening tomorrow.

Can the resilient lot of Women in Blue prove to be third time lucky as India had been in two finals in 2005 and 2017 but failed to go over the line? Or will it be Laura Wolvaardt’s bunch who stunned their nemesis England in the semi-final – after having been all out for a paltry 69 against the same opponents in a league game earlier?

A former India women’s team coach, who had been at the helm when the Women in Blue ended as runners-up in the 2020 T20 World Cup in Australia, had no qualms about saying the advantage rests with India.

‘’It’s advantage India, there are no two ways about it – given the final coming on the back of two fantastic wins,’’ remarked Woorkeri Raman, the former India opener who had been a coach of the Women in Blue for two and-a-half years between 2018 and 2021. ‘’I am very optimistic about history being made tomorrow. Now that they have beaten Australia, considered almost an near impossible task in the knockout stages, there is no stopping them and given the quality of cricket they have been playing,’’ he said.

Speaking to National Herald, Raman said that while he was not under-estimating the Proteas,  it’s no quite the same thing as facing someone like Aussies in the final. ‘’Yes, they have a number of good cricketers and have been an extremely competitive side in last three years, but they are not unbeatable by any stretch of imagination,’’ remarked ‘WV,’ who had also been involved as a batting mentor with IPL teams and had been a former coach of Under-19 India.

The last 48 hours had seen the pocket-sized Jemimah Rodrigues emerging as the toast of the nation after her matchwinning, unbeaten 127 on the magical Thursday night.

Given her credentials of of being an utility player who had been often in and out of the side, rather than playing a matchwinner at number three who could survive for 47 overs in such a pressure cooker situation, Raman broke it down: ‘’She had been a work in progress and in the last three years, Jemimah has evolved tremendously as a player. Yes, there have been occasions in the past where she made mistakes that even cost her place in the squad but you have to remember that she actually made her debut in an Indian shirt very early.

‘’The best part about her was that she always wanted to take responsibility for India and had been in the process of discovering her game. As Jemi’s innings showed, she now knows how to find gaps in the field and finish off games,’’ Raman noted.

Despite making the final, India’s game has been not been fullproof with the pace attack looking inexperienced while the ground fielding has a huge room of improvement. Raman, however, wants to shake off any shed of negativity here: ‘’See, you can’t be fullproof in sport. Yes, they should try to minismise the mistakes but fact remains that India have hit the stripes at the right time. Let’s hope history will be created on Sunday.’’

 A key change at the business-end for India, prompted by a freak injury, had been the explosive Shafali Varma coming in as a replacement for the in-form Pratika Rawal. The later’s contribution had been invaluable but now that fate has given Shafali a break, she will hold the key in giving the team a flying start in the powerplay in the company of Smriti Mandhana.

The semi-final saw her getting dismissed cheaply, but Raman still wants the 21-year-old to back her strength rather than trying to settle down in the initial overs. What should be his word of advice for Shafali? ‘’It’s very simple, she is a potential matchwinner and should play to her strength. I am not suggesting that she should be careless but she needs to tap her unique ability to dominate and score runs quickly,’’ he added.

Over then, to Navi Mumbai…

Catch the match

ICC Women’s World Cup final

India vs South Africa

Venue: D.Y.Patil Stadium, Navi Mumbai

Start: 3 pm