Australia clinch thriller to book yet another semi-final; India on the brink

With all the high hopes of making it to the T20 World Cup semifinal got shattered last night at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium when Australia’s Women Team clinched a last over thriller to book their semifinal tickets.

This was India vs Australia, considered as the match of the tournament and a must win match for India. We couldn’t have asked for more grander stage than this to becoming World Champions from being contender. We come to terms with yet another World Cup exit, unless Pakistan script a miracle tonight. Every single member of the team is in disbelief about last night. But some tough questions need to be answered regarding the path ahead to the upcoming 50 over World Cup.

The difference between India and Australia:

The major difference between Australia and India was nothing but the approach – the fear of failure. Team India never looked settled throughout the game, there were dropped catches and missed run outs even full tossed balls went lo Long on for singles and doubles only. There were 31 dot balls last night which gives you the statement about the batting approach in the run chase. Firstly, they allowed Australia to score around 150 where the pitch was about 130 only. So, these 20 extra runs made the difference. All the top order batters failed to score big. However, the captain Harmanpreet Kaur and Deepti Sharma made a partnership with six wickets in hand. They kept the hopes alive, anything could have happened but the result was so disheartening for every Team India fan. It was again Australia who made it impossible for us to celebrate. Australians played without any fear and they made their way to the first semifinal at Dubai International Stadium.

The roadmap for future:

With Yesterday’s loss, Team India is out of the T20 World Cup 2024. Now, we have to critically analyze our performances throughout the tournament as well as the role of head coach Amol Mazumdar. It still seems too far for Team India to become World Champions. Do we need a revamp in T20 Cricket set up as a unit like the Men’s team did? Maybe under a new leader? Can we experiment with a new approach and make a new beginning with someone else? Remember 2007 and Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Defeat is history, future is in our hands.

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