India were at the end of an 8-wicket thumping against England in the semi-finals of the Women’s World T20 at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium at North Sound on Friday. Also Read - Coronavirus Pandemic May Have Set Back Growth of Women's Cricket by Two Years: Mithali Raj
After winning the toss and opting to bat first, the women in blue displayed a sloppy performance as their batting-line up collapsed for a paltry 112. Also Read - On This Day: Sourav Ganguly And Rahul Dravid Made Their Test Debuts vs England at Lord’s Cricket Ground
England had a shaky start to the second innings, losing their opening wickets at the early stages but then turned the game around in a composed manner by rotating the strike well. Also Read - MS Dhoni is What he is Today Because of His Unbiased Opinions: RP Singh Recalls Selection Meeting Controversy of 2008
As the ‘Three Lions’ outclassed India in every way, fans and critics outraged at the team’s decision to omit veteran batsman Mithali Raj from the starting eleven.
Cricketing experts including the likes of Harsha Bhogle and Sanjay Manjrekar questioned the decision:
However, Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur stressed that she had ‘no regrets’ about the decision, “Whatever we decided, we decided for the team. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, no regrets.”
“I’m proud of the way my girls played through the tournament. This is a learning for us because we are a young team.”
Kaur also praised the world number 2 England for displaying a strong performance, “Sometimes you have to change your game according to the wicket. England bowled really well, read the wicket really well.
“It was not an easy total to chase, and our bowlers bowled really well. We stretched the match till the 18th over.”
