I believe destiny is in India’s favour: Veda on final forecast
women players’ throws from the boundary would not reach, but now some, like Deepti Sharma, throw as hard as anyone, including male players.
“Deepti is the best thrower in the world, I have coached some IPL teams and her throw is as hard as anybody,” he says. “You can’t take a second run on her throw.”
Agility too has improved by leaps—jemimah Rodrigues and Smriti Mandhana have been especially impressive—their athleticism on the field a result of sprint training.
“Veda dives well and moves well,” Biju points out. “Jemimah is a livewire; she is very alert to the situation and quick in the field. She also has a very good throw. Mandhana covers so much distance, and I have never seen her drop a catch. Radhav Yadav tries very hard, is very versatile and can field at any position.”
BHATIA THE BEST?
But perhaps the best of the lot is 2 2 - year- ol d Taniya Bhatia behind the stumps, a woman who, with six catches and three stumpings—the highest in the tournament—played a crucial role in India’s four wins.
“Taniya has quick hands, gathers well with soft palms and moves well,” Biju says. “She is good standing up to the spinners as well as pacers.”
There is another aspect to India’s fielding performance, and that’s the tactical acumen of their captain Harmanpreet Kaur.
“Harmanpreet’s field setting is brilliant. She gets the right player in the right position,” s a y s Bi j u . “F o r e x a mpl e , Rajeshwari Gayakwad, who is a left-hander, is at backward point, and I saw her taking a good catch against Australia (opener Beth Mooney). Poonam Yadav is comparatively shorter, so she is positioned at short square-leg.
“India has the potential to be t he best f i elding si de i n t he world”.
Biju, who knows the team as well as anyone, also feels that they will be unstoppable in the final.
“We are going to win this World Cup…100 per cent,” he says. “Harmanpreet and Mandhana are due for a big scores a n d t h e s e t wo wi l l g e t u s through in the finals.”
MELBOURNE: Senior India batter Veda Krishnamurthy says her team seems destined to win the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in its maiden final appearance provided it keeps nerves in check against four-time champions Australia here on Sunday.
India will have the psychological advantage going into the final as they had stunned the defending champions by 17 runs in the tournament opener.
“It’s all about destiny, and I’m a big believer in destiny. I feel like this is the way it was meant to be. There is a joke going around that this World Cup is made in such a way that it’s helping us, starting from the wickets to everything else,” she was quoted as saying by the tournament’s official website.
The Harmanpreet Kaur-led India reached the final on the basis of their unbeaten record in the tournament after their semifinal against England was washed out on Thursday.
Krishnamurthy, who was a part of the Indian team that finished runner-up to England in the 2017 Women’s ODI World Cup, understands the pain of missing out on a world title.
“Being in the final is just reward for the way we played in the group stages. There was an advantage to having won all our games with the weather not in our hands.”
The team’s first target of reaching t he f i nal having achieved, the 27-year-old player said the Indians now need to hold their nerves and remain focussed leading up to the big day on Sunday. “We said the first aim was to get to the final and take it from there. We’ve crossed the first stage. We need to make sure we hold our nerves and we do what we need to do on the final day,” she said.
But all is not hunky-dory for Krishnamurthy on the personal front. Considered a great finisher, she has recovered from a series of single-digit scores in the tri-series to score 20 from 11 balls in a finishing role against Bangladesh. Having amassed just 35 runs from four matches in the tournament so far, the Karnataka batter knows her role in the team.
“As an individual, the role given to me is very consistent in the last year. They’ve put effort in the last year to keep me there and I’ve been supported by every individual, not just one or two,” she said.