Rewind 2023: India women’s cricket team shine in Tests and Asian Games but search for ICC trophy continues
With their narrow three-run defeat at the hands of Australia in the second of three ODIs on Saturday, the year 2023 came to a conclusion for the India women’s cricket team. It was the final game of the year not just for the Harmanpreet Kaur-led side, but for women’s international cricket in general.
The match also happened to be the second-last international fixture of the year with the third men’s T20I between New Zealand and Bangladesh taking place the following day.
Judging by the events of the match, in which the Women in Blue were on top for a substantial portion, only to throw it all away towards the end of both innings, one would be inclined to think that it was far from satisfactory an ending to the year for them. What made the defeat worse was the fact that it would also result in the Australians clinching the series with a game to spare.
Looking back at their performances across the year, one would find just as many highs as they would find lows. And before the year draws to a close, we review what the India women’s cricket team got right in 2023, and where things went wrong.
The Good: Thrashing England and Australia in Tests, winning gold in Asian Games
Up until the start of December 2023, India had won only a handful of Tests, the last of which was against South Africa in Mysore in 2014. For the team to then thrash both England and Australia by humongous margins of 347 runs and 8 wickets respectively in a space of 10 days is, therefore, a monumental feat and a defining moment for Indian cricket.
England would fold for 136 and 131 on the same DY Patil track where four Indians collected half-centuries and the hosts posted 428. All-rounder Deepti Sharma was ruthless, collecting 5/7 and 4/32 after scoring 67 in the first innings in what was one of the standout performances of the year across the sport while the Heather Knight-led side ended up suffering the heaviest defeat in women’s Tests, which had witnessed a team lose by 300 runs or more for only the second time.
India all-rounder Deepti Sharma displays the ball after collecting five wickets for just 7 runs on Day 2 of the one-off Test against England in Navi Mumbai. Sportzpics
Even more historic was India beating the mighty Australians a week later — for the first time in the format since the two sides first locked horns in 1977. India would once again collect a massive first innings lead, posting 406 on the board after bowling Australia out for 219. The Aussies tried fighting back in their second innings, only to be halted in their tracks by an inspired spell from Harmanpreet. Sneh Rana would be the standout bowler in this game with her seven-wicket match haul (3/56 and 4/63) while Smriti Mandhana would finish the job with an unbeaten 38 that helped the hosts chase the modest 75-run target down with eight wickets to spare.
Equally impressive was India winning gold in the Hangzhou Asian Games on debut. A little over a year since they finished with silver in the Birmingham Commonwealth Games, the Women in Blue would prove to be the most dominant outfit in the continental games. They bossed Malaysia in the first quarter-final that ended in a washout, and progressed to the semis on the basis of their higher seeding.
They would then storm into the final after thrashing Bangladesh by 8 wickets, bowling the Tigresses out for a paltry 51. Pacer Titas Sadhu would then star in the low-scoring final, where the Women in Blue handed Sri Lanka a 19-run loss to ensure a top-of-the-podium finish.
The Bad: Losing out on an ICC title yet again
India have not won an ICC trophy for more than a decade now, with MS Dhoni having last delivered a global title in the 2013 Champions Trophy. For the women’s team, however, the record is even worse with the team having not won a single ICC event till date. They finished runners-up in the 2005 and 2017 ODI World Cups under Mithali Raj’s leadership and in the 2020 T20 World Cup under Harmanpreet’s captaincy.
It was no different this year for the Indian team, who entered the T20 World Cup in South Africa this year as one of the strong contenders to take the title off the grasp of the mighty Australians. Indian started their campaign with a commanding seven-wicket victory over arch-rivals Pakistan and followed with six-wicket victory over West Indies.
Alyssa Healy and Beth Mooney celebrate Austalia’s 5-run victory over India in the semi-finals of this year’s Women’s T20 World Cup. Reuters
A 10-run loss against England forced them to go back to the drawing board, although it hardly jeopardise their chances of making the knockouts, which they confirmed with a slender five-run win against Ireland in a rain-affected game.
Against eventual champions Australia in the semi-finals, it was yet another case of big-match nerves getting the better of the Women in Blue, as had been the case in the 2017 World Cup final and in the 2022 CWG gold medal match. India were set a challenging 173 to win and were reduced to 28/3 before Harmanpreet (52) and Jemimah Rodrigues (43) brought them back into the contest with a solid four-wicket stand.
The onus was on Harmanpreet to get her team over the line, but an unfortunate run-out in the 15th over of the chase would trigger a batting collapse of epic proportions, resulting in yet another heartbreak for her side as they suffered a narrow five-run loss.
The Ugly: Harmanpreet’s meltdown in Mirpur
Bangladesh captain Nigar Sultana and her Indian counterpart Harmanpreet Kaur pose with the ODI series trophy after the two teams shared the honours 1-1. Image credit: Twitter/@BCCIWomen
Harmanpreet was also involved in one of the most controversial moments in recent cricketing memory, suffering a meltdown of epic proportions in the third ODI against Bangladesh at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium in Mirpur in July.
The hosts set India 226 to win in the ODI series that had come down to a decider. Harmanpreet was batting on 14 at a stage in the chase where the Women in Blue were in the driver’s seat when she was apparently dismissed LBW by Nahida Akter, who went into a celebrappeal before the umpire could raise his finger.
The Indian skipper was furious with the umpire, indicating that she got a bit of bat to the ball before it hit her pad although a catch had subsequently been taken at slip and that would later be recorded as her official mode of dismissal.
It’s normal for cricketers to show displeasure over an umpire’s decision; however, where things took a turn for the worse was when she smashed the stumps with her bat on her way to the dressing room and sarcastically gestured a thumbs up towards the crowd. Things wouldn’t end there though as Harmanpreet would later describe the umpiring as “pathetic” and would even ask opposition captain Nigar Sultana to invite the two umpires over for a team photoshoot, suggesting they indirectly were part of the Bangladeshi team.
India Women’s Tour of Bangladesh 2023 | 3rd ODI Match | Match Tied
Post-match Presentation:
Mr. Iftekhar Rahman, Director, BCB and Chairman, Umpires Committee of BCB
Mr. Mohammed Jalal Yunus, Director, BCB and Chairman, Cricket Operations Committee of BCB
Mr. Mahbubul Anam,… pic.twitter.com/KNIGiPnjiF
— Bangladesh Cricket (@BCBtigers) July 22, 2023
Her behaviour hardly found any supporters among legends of the game with former India captain Shanta Rangaswamy describing it as “deplorable” and 1983 World Cup-winner Madan Lal accusing her of bringing a “very bad name for Indian cricket” and urged the BCCI to take strict disciplinary action. Diana Edulji, another former captain of the Indian women’s team, said she was setting a “bad example” for her teammates.
Harmanpreet, though, insisted she had no regrets from the incident even though she would end up copping a two-match ban from the ICC.
Top performers
Tests
Most runs: Jemimah Rodrigues (180)
Most wickets: Deepti Sharma (11)
ODIs
Most runs: Jemimah Rodrigues (255)
Most wickets: Deepti Sharma (8)
T20Is
Most runs: Smriti Mandhana (433)
Most wickets: Deepti Sharma (21)
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