Women's T20 WC final: Ex-players confident Indian eves will spoil Australia's party

“I am on top of the world,” said an elated former India skipper Diana Edulji when asked about the Women in Blue's march into the finals of the ICC Women's Twenty20 World Cup in Australia. For Indian eves, this is their second biggest moment in women's cricket history after India reached the 2017 World Cup final, where they lost to England. Despite being runners-up, it brought in massive recognition for the game and the players at home and outside.

"Everybody (in Team India) now has to come to the party and give that one shot at bringing a World Cup home. Make it our 1983 moment for women's cricket,” Edulji told THE WEEK.

India marched into their first final of the Women's T20 World Cup on Thursday when rain washed out their semifinal match against England. With no reserve day for semifinal matches, winning all their group matches and topping the points table in their group paid off. India will meet Australia in the final to be played in Melbourne on March 8, with the latter beating South Africa by five runs (via Duckworth-Lewis method).

Will Sunday, which is incidentally Women's Day, too, go down in history as Indian women cricket's most important day ever?

India's first Test captain Shantha Rangaswamy is confident that Sunday will be a red-letter day for women cricketers in India. Speaking to THE WEEK, she said, "I think the very fact that they have not lost a single game thus far, speaks highly of the tenacity of our girls and the way they are playing. For me, India will be favourites going in on Sunday."

Edulji said that Sunday was a now-or-never moment for the Indian women. "I am so happy that our girls have broken the jinx of Team India losing in the semifinals." It must be noted that both men and women's teams carshed out in the semifinal stage—at the ICC Men's T20 WC 2016, ICC Women's T20 WC2018 and the ICC Men's WC 2019.

Responding to remarks that rain favoured the Indian women, Edulji said, "The weather came into the picture, which is not India's fault. The way the team has shaped up, we would have beaten England, too."

Australia have reached the final of the T20 World Cup six times, of which they won four. But India can take confidence from the fact that the Aussies have lost to only India in the ongoing tournament.

“Australia were just lucky in the semifinal. Had the match not been curtailed, South Africa had a better chance of winning the game. Nevertheless, India should focus on their strength rather than Australia's history," said Rangaswamy.

According to former India player and coach Purnima Rau, it's all going India's way in the tournament so far. "The luck, which usually doesn't favour us, has gone our way this time. But, as they say, fortune favours the brave. The way the girls have played, with young Shafali Verma giving us the starts, has been extremely commendable,"she said.

"Our main batters—Smriti Mandhana, Harmanpreet Kaur and Jemimah Rodrigues haven't got big runs so far. They are due for a big one, and I am confident they will respond positively to the challenge,"said Rangaswamy.

According to Rau, Australia will be wary of India, having lost to them in the group stage. "No matter how many finals you play, they will be wary of us. They are not accustomed to losing in the finals. India has hit the right notes to make a strong impact on the opponents. The finals, in any case, is more of a psychological thing and will come down to who executes their plans best. I would like to mention here that Shafali, the way she has batted, has put fear in opposition bowlers already."