It takes one day

New Delhi: Heartbreak! Yet again the green and gold got the better of the ones in blue. And this time it was in the blue domain; in their own backyard. Yes; the final is always a 50-50 contest and it’s anyone’s game on that day. But surely the number of supporters that hoped that one day was of the men in blue likely to be far greater.

The numbers don’t matter. The Aussies yet again showed that all it matters is that one on one contest. The contest between the bat and ball.

The biggest reminder yet again that planning needs to meet implementation for perfect results.

The experience of playing finals, being in must win situations and absorbing the pressure and for a length of time or days throughout the tournament can never be easy.

How do the Aussies do this? How do they sustain, how does one get the better of them?

From the time I remember playing and competing against them; it has been that one team which gets the best out of you. You have to be at your best and hope that they are a shade below their level for a win.

Am hoping the present and upcoming generation of women cricketers would have seen the final match. In a curfew like situation on the day of the finals; it was difficult to stay unaffected.

Very soon the Indian women will face the ladies in green and gold after hosting the English women. It will be their test of skills and temperament. The pressure of a World Cup will not be there but the pressure to deliver will be.

The last few months have been of wait and watch pre and post WPL. A tour of Bangladesh and the Asian games served as fillers before the domestic cricket began.

A much-delayed appointment; but now the Indian team has a head coach in Amol Mazumdar. An achiever and a tall figure in men’s domestic cricket. The Mumbai batter who should have played for India has taken up a different challenge upon himself. Ideally, he should have travelled to Bangladesh and China to have started immediately after his selection but that didn’t happen. Reasons unknown.

Mumbai his home city will host all the matches of the two women’s tours (England and Australia). The challenges are galore but Amol will start with identifying his war horses. With lack of consistency in the performances and in selections too the challenges will require the coaches magic wand even more.

The Aussies in the ICC men’s cricket World Cup final repeatedly gave us a reality check of being ahead of the game. They forced us to find a corner in the well-guarded circle.

Indian captain Harmanpreet Kaur has been the player who has been playing the women’s big bash league in Australia regularly. Being in that environment, playing with the present and upcoming generation of local players she would be the best suited to sharing that Aussie mindset in the Indian dressing room. From preparation to implementation how it can be initiated can atleast be shared in words.

Things can’t and won’t change overnight but it’s highly essential to identify the gaps and the pathway.

The 2023 World Cup team of India has to be acknowledged as the best ever Indian cricket team to play a World Cup. In-form, experience, skill it had everything. 10 out of 10 wins was the assurance of the above; till the finals stumble.

It needed a special performance to fly with the trophy from right under our nose. For Australia; it might have been just another day at the office. They had greater challenges leading up to the finals. But for India; it was a billion dreams that got shattered. The hope; broken, a smile; buried.

A players life rises like the rising sun. Get over it and start afresh. With a when as a question; the target should be absolutely clear for the ones dawning the BLUE.