CWC 2022: Will we see the return of the Blue Brigade?

DELHI, India - March 25, 2022 - PRLog -- A famous saying goes: "it ain't over till the fat lady sings." For the Indian Women's Cricket team, currently battling for the ICC 50-over World Cup in New Zealand, the 'fat lady' is set to perform her first act this coming Sunday when the Indian eves are set to face off with South Africa, the second team to qualify for the semi-final of the championship.

If one has to analyze the performance of the Mithali Raj led side so far in the ICCWWC, there have been ups and downs. A few expected wins and losses have put their chances of qualifying in a rather precarious position. Their losses to hosts New Zealand, England (reigning champions), and the red hot, in-form Australia were part of the expected script, written on the current form of the Indian team and their opponents.

Indian fans will be hoping that the impending game against the Proteas will follow a different script, considering that the Indians have beaten them only once in the last five encounters in Lucknow, last March.

What India needs is the kind of mojo they showed against the West Indies and Australia. Hundreds by Smriti Mandhana and Harmanpreet Kaur and a nagging line bowled by spinners Sneha Rana and Rajeshwari Gayakwad ensured a facile win against the Windies. The game against the Aussies saw them score 277 runs, which they couldn't defend as the Aussie juggernaut proved to be too strong for them, riding on power hitting by Alyssa Healy and skipper Meg Lanning.

Prior to the fixture against the Aussies, the Indian lasses capitulated against England, losing the crucial match with 112 balls remaining, giving the holders a foot in the door, which they accepted gratefully and have since capitalized on that performance. England, who had a bad run before they faced India are now strong probables to qualify for the knock-outs.

Come Sunday, Mithali & Co. will need to invoke power batting – seen in bits and parts, so far – to post or chase a total. They will be hoping that the form of Mandhana, Kaur, Shefali Varma (finally found hers), Yastika Bhatia, Pooja Vastrakar, and that of the skipper herself continues the way it did against Bangladesh.

Veteran Jhulan Goswami and the spinners will need to keep errors to the minimum and don the garb of misers. The team will have their hands full while combating the batting form of Laura Wolvaardt, skipper Sune Luus and the guiles of the Proteas bowling spearheaded by Marizanne Kapp and Shabnim Ismail, who has had a great run against India.

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