Penbugs
CricketWomen Cricket

April 10, 2005: The day that could have changed women’s cricket in India

The Eden Gardens greeted Belinda Clark and her team when they lifted the World Cup. There were a huge crowd of 80,000 people, who watched Australia defeat New Zealand in the final. Clark then gave a victory lap, and the crowd was going berserk. Now, that was years ago.

2005 World Cup held in South Africa, a country where women’s cricket was still in infancy. The ticket price was kept low to attract the crowd, but the crowd was not as huge as the one the Women’s cricket witnessed in 1997.

Papers were telling the stories of the matches, and important Indian matches had special coverage, a tiny column with an image of the star player.

It was not so good as one would have thought, especially for those who witnessed 1997 finals. Still, there was a glimpse of hopes of bringing back the fans to the game in India when the team qualified for the finals.

When the tournament preview was done, most of the experts thought India would make it to the semifinal, and they called it a surprise if the team could go any further.

Of course, India had some of the better players, and it was a good team that could do wonders on their given day, and as usual, they were going in with their strengths, their spinners. The spinners delivered as well. With Neetu David leading from the front, India captured three of the top five spots in the leading wicket-takers list.

On the other hand, India was also riding their luck, they were chasing small totals, and were doing well when batting first. They weren’t exposed to a big total to chase till the final.

Also, the one positive thing before going into the final was Mithali Raj’s unbeaten 91 in the semifinal. She had a good partnership with Anjum Chopra to take the team to a decent total after losing two early wickets, and as expected the bowlers did the job for the team. India then went on to become the first Asian team to qualify for the final of the Women’s World Cup.

Coming into the final, Australia were too good when it comes to reading the strengths and weakness of the opponent, and the experience of being most of the finals helped them to handle the pressure well.

Australia won the game from the first when they opted to bat, something India wanted to do as well.

Then the second big moment in the match was when India dropped Rolton when she was batting at 60. Had that catch was taken, India could’ve restricted Australia for a lesser total and of course, chasing something around 180 wouldn’t be a tough task on a pitch like that.

However, that didn’t happen and Rolton went on to lead from the front, scored a brilliant hundred to take the team to 215.

India did field poorly throughout the tournament, something they didn’t learn in years.

Also, India grabbed all the pressure and couldn’t bat well against the mighty Australia who was coming in right and loud against the team that looked amateurish. The team fell 98 runs short and was noway near.

With that, Australia once again lifted the trophy.

Had India played like the team that defeated the other major teams to be in the final, things would have been completely different today. There might be more women picking up the bat, people talking more about the game, and most importantly, they would have got the “respect” they deserve.

When returned home, the team was welcomed by 1/4th of the fans that normally men’s team would get. They had a small meeting with the same repeated questions, but it was huge at that time.

People were there appreciating the team, backing them. However, that wasn’t enough for the generation of fans to carry the same to the future.

Had India lifted the World Cup that day, the girls would have got at least a better coverage on the newspaper. Unfortunately, they didn’t, and they have to wait for years.

India didn’t learn from their mistakes even today, and we all have the fielding to blame for our losses. In the recently concluded World Cup, the drop catches proved costly. While there is a huge amount of improvement when it comes to the fitness and the fielding, they are still no way near the Australian team that defeated India on both occasions.

Now, as a normal Indian fan, who cried during the 2003 World Cup, I thought I had something to cheer during the final of 2005. Unfortunately, this was even more heartbreaking considering the impact it would have had on the whole generation of girls who couldn’t follow their dreams because of stereotype.

This could’ve been a gate opener for many of the firsts in a positive way. Lesser did I know that this would become the gate opener for the final failures.

Related posts

ஹாலிவுட் நடிகர் ராக்கிற்கு கொரோனா

Penbugs

ரம்ஜான் வாழ்த்துகள்: கொரோனாவுக்கு எதிரான போரில் வெற்றி பெறுவோம்: பிரதமர் மோடி…!

Penbugs

மொழி – ஓர் உந்துதல் !!

Shiva Chelliah

முகநூலில் சுயவிவரங்களை லாக் செய்யும் புதிய வசதி இந்தியாவில் அறிமுகம்!

Kesavan Madumathy

மனிதம் வளர்ப்போம்!

Dhinesh Kumar

பார்டர் கவாஸ்கர் டிராபி-90ஸ் மெமரிஸ்

Kesavan Madumathy

பரோட்டாவிற்கு 18 சதவீதம் ஜிஎஸ்டி…!

Kesavan Madumathy

நெடுஞ்சாலை திட்டங்களில் சீன நிறுவனங்கள் பங்கேற்க இந்தியா அனுமதிக்காது – நிதின் கட்காரி

Penbugs

தோனி புதிய இந்தியாவின் அடையாளம்-பிரதமர் மோடி

Penbugs

தமிழகத்தில் ஒரே நாளில் 1562 பேருக்கு கொரோனா வைரஸ் தொற்று உறுதி

Kesavan Madumathy

தமிழகத்தில் இன்று 1,438 பேருக்கு கொரோனா உறுதி

Kesavan Madumathy

தமிழகத்தில் இதுவரை இல்லாத வகையில் இன்று ஒரே நாளில் 5000 பேர் டிஸ்சார்ஜ்

Kesavan Madumathy