Indeed, the 2022 Commonwealth Games ushers in a new era of Indian women's cricket. An era without the huge presence of Mithali Raj and Jhulan Gosmani, who were ubiquitous in at least one format until this year's ODI World Cup in New Zealand.
Over the past 20 years, Mithali and Goswami have become conterminal with Indian women's cricket and have been an entire part of many of its define moments: the epic Test win in South Africa in 2002, the 2005 World Cup final Test victory over England in Taunton (2006) and Wormsley (2014) and Australia's first series win in 2016 (in a T20I).
It is unrealistic to imagine India without Mithali and Goswami as active cricketers in world affairs. The two teammates and lifelong friends were a beacon of light in tumultuous times, their calm presence invaluable as India suffered disappointments like elimination from the home World Cup in 2013 and 2016 and a heartbreaking defeat at that time. ending with the Lord. 2017.
Goswami retired from T20Is in 2018 and Mithali in 2019 and so far, though they have been active in ODIs, the power of their presence transcends formats. In Mithali's case, being the ODI captain meant she still had a strong influence on the player base.
So while Harmanpreet Kaur had a certain way of leading her T20 team, there was a feeling that it wasn't always her team. In a way, Ajinkya Rahane was supposed to lead the Indian Test team if Virat Kohli was rested. It was Rahane's team then, but it was always Kohli's team.
It is no secret that Mithali and Harmanpreet are ambassadors with different leadership styles. and often a middle ground needs to be found.
While Mithali often took a safety-first approach, preferring to play with an extra bowler, a luxury he did not have for most of his career, Harmanpreet tended to take the aggressive route, often playing with five bowlers and one bowler. all terrains.
As a batsman, Mithali was consistently economical; Harmanpreet is full of energy. Under Mithali, India eventually handed an ODI debut to Shafali Verma, whose power at the top was a breath of fresh air in the T20 side. Until then, India preferred Poonam Raut's Bima, who was calmer and more stubborn than Shafali.
Harmanpreet's mantra is very different: he encourages himself and his team to play aggressively. He tried to get more out of his players, for example by encouraging Rich Ghosh and Yastik Bhatia to keep wickets, so the team could play with other batsmen or bowlers depending on the situation.
Ahead of the Sri Lanka tour in June, in his first press conference after becoming full-time ODI captain, Harmanpreet said he finally felt it was his team now.
"When there were two different captains, sometimes it was not easy because we [Mithali and I] had different ideas," he said. "Now it's easier for me to ask [the players] what I expect from them. It makes it easier for me and clearer for my colleagues."
Harmanpreet, 33, at the peak of her powers, overcame a run of poor form. In Smriti Mandhana you have a calm and mature vice-captain who is not just a batsman but a role model for future cricketers.
Jemimah Rodriguez, who has missed out on the 2022 World Cup, will be another mainstay in the middle order across the format, taking over the role once held by Mithali. Rodriguez is in great form at the moment and has turned his career around at The Hundred and the WBBL.
Yastika is another free throw shooter who plays with the likes of Harmanpreet and the strength of his back. He credits Hardik Pandya with helping him develop his power game after the two worked together in Vadodara late last year when Hardik was recovering from a back injury. This change in approach gradually allowed India to become more aggressive and score more as a batting unit
On the ball side, India has a lot of work to do to be a force at the Commonwealth Games. Legspinner Poonam Yadav is no longer the force she was two years ago. With India's preference for multi-skilled cricketers, Poonam seems to have lost out to Sneh Rana, who has established himself as an all-rounder in both the white-ball formats.
While India have identified a number of players who can fill the void left by Mithali, Goswami's replacement is harder to find. There is a group of young pacers, Meghna Singh, Renuka Singh Thakur and Pooja Bhastrakar, but their inexperience showed in the World Cup group match against South Africa. India lost that match and bowed out of the tournament, even with an injured Goswami on the bench.
In many ways, the pre-Commonwealth Games tour of Sri Lanka was India's first step after the Mithali-Goswami era. Both legends may still be heavily involved in shaping Indian women's cricket, such as as administrators, but there is a sense that the national team has finally moved on.
Harmanpreet's team is now in Birmingham to compete in the inaugural women's cricket at the Commonwealth Games. A medal would be the perfect way to usher in a new era of Indian cricket.
Source by : ESPN
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