MUMBAI: The mood is upbeat in the Indian women’s team camp. After all, they are high on confidence after recording back-to-back Test wins over England and Australia. They will look to build on that momentum when they face formidable Australia in the three-match ODI series starting at the Wankhede Stadium on Thursday.
In the past,
India women
have been steamrolled by the Aussies in this format of the game.
Of the 50 ODIs played between them, Australia have won 40 and India just 10. If one thinks that India would have fared better in home conditions, that isn’t the case either — they have won just four of the 21 matches played against the seven-time champions, who have won 17 and emerged victorious in the last 7 ODIs played on Indian soil.
India’s last win came way back in December 2004 at Bombay Gymkhana. The current record isn’t great as well with Australia winning 7 of the last 10 games between these two teams.
The last of those home defeats was way back in 2018. Only five from that team —
Smriti Mandhana
, Jemimah Rodrigues,
Harmanpreet Kaur
,
Deepti Sharma
and Pooja Vastrakar — are part of this current squad. Apart from Harman, who was the vice-captain in 2018, others were breaking into the squad.
Cut to 2023 and Harman is the captain. Others have more experience under their belt and along with young guns Richa Ghosh, Shafali Verma, Renuka Singh and Shreyanka Patil, they will be eager to set the dismal record straight.
It’s easier said than done, though, as the Alyssa Healy-led Australia have rarely allowed opponents to dominate them in ODIs. But after their historic first Test win over the team from Down Under at the same venue last week, the sky is the limit for India.
Every time India needed key contributions in that Test, someone always put their hand up, be it Pooja Vastrakar’s spell in the first innings which restricted Australia to 219 or her partnership with Deepti Sharma which helped India post 406 in their first innings. Or Harmanpreet’s two wickets, which switched the course of the match.
The last time these two teams met in the ODIs was during the 2022 ODI World Cup group game in New Zealand, with Australia cantering to a six-wicket win. This series, though, could see India pose a tougher challenge.
English (US) ·