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As the Indian women's team members took the bus back after watching their male counterpart come apart against Sri Lanka in the World T20 tie against Sri Lanka at Beausejour Cricket Ground on Tuesday, the expectations coming their way hit home suddenly.
For a nation rocked by Australian pace and shocked by the team's failure to reach the last four in the tournament, Jhulan Goswami and her team have the perfect opportunity to ease the pain against the Aussies in the semi-finals on Thursday evening. While Australia have been unbeaten so far in search of their first World T20 title, the Indian women's team have not sweated too much, unlike their male counterparts.
They have reasons to be upbeat about the semi-final clash, too: having beaten the Aussies previously in the 50-over World Cup, the team has several players in form with both bat and ball. Though India opened the campaign here with a narrow, 10-run loss to New Zealand, they were ruthless in demolishing Pakistan and Sri Lanka en route to the semis.
Unlike the men's team, the Australian women have not been clinical so far they escaped defeat against defending champions England in the Super Over. England, incidentally, were dumped in the first round itself.
Conditions favorable
The conditions for Thursday's match, too, seem to favour India's spin-oriented attack. Off-spinner Diana David, who has two four-wicket hauls in the tournament, left-arm spinner Gouhar Sultana along with leg-spin duo Priyanka Roy and Reema Malhotra form a potent line of attack. Skipper Goswami sharing the new ball with seam bowling all-rounders Rumeli Dhar and Amita Sharma have also been clinical so far.
Mithali Raj has taken her due responsibility with the bat with scores of 52, 44 and 33, while wicketkeeper-batswoman Sulakashna Naik and all-rounder Poonam Raut have scored a half-century each.
Chopra yet to play
Interestingly, Anjum Chopra is yet to play a game in the tournament but her experience might come handy against the seasoned opponents under lights.
A confident Goswami said, "We beat Australia in the (50 over) World Cup last time. So we are pretty confident of beating them in this format as well."
Team manager Vidya Yadav said the players are fit and in good form. "Sulakshana Naik, Poonam and Mithali have been in good nick with the bat. Diana has two four-wicket hauls, while Gouhar and Priyanka have also been impressive," she said. "They are in a great frame of mind and are looking forward to the game against Australia."
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