Muzumdar: Australia’s experience saw them through

Amol Muzumdar, the India head coach, was disconsolate after their semi-final hopes nosedived following their nine-run loss to Australia, but he wasn’t going to throw his team under the bus. He only hoped they can “learn from the experience and disappointment.”

India were shoddy on the field and conceded “10-15 more” and tangled themselves into a position from which they were once again hoping for a Harmanpreet Kaur miracle to bail them out. The captain was unbeaten on 54 off 47, visibly drained and upset at the team’s second loss in four games.

“I think we were in the game right till the last over, just that experience of Australia saw them through,” Muzumdar said after the game. “A little disappointed with the loss. I feel we’ve fielded pretty well. A couple of chances could’ve been taken and things could’ve been different.”

India dropped three catches, missed one stumping and a run-out opportunity on the field. India also had a close lbw call of Phoebe Litchfield go in Australia’s favour.

Litchfield, a left-hand batter, was on 5 when she was struck on the pad by a Deepti Sharma delivery while attempting a reverse sweep but was reprieved after taking a review only because the ball [accounting for her not having changed her stance before delivery] pitched outside leg. Litchfield added 10 more, including a last-ball six to set India a 152 target – the highest team total at this venue in this tournament. The next best was also Australia’s 148 against New Zealand last week.

Muzumdar steered clear of being critical of the Litchfield decision, but didn’t shy away from saying “it was a crucial one.” He also gave a peek into the team’s line of thinking at the halfway mark of their chase, from where India needed 85 with Harmanpreet and Deepti at the crease. The pair added 63 in 55 balls, but went through a six-over period where they managed just three boundaries. It left them needing 70 off the last seven overs.

“First and foremost, it was about the run-chase,” Muzumdar revealed of the chat at the 10-over mark. “Second was keeping the net run rate also in bounds. But the only message was if we take it a little deeper, then we do have a good chance to chase. That was the only message to Harman and Deepti. I think Harman’s presence was very important till the end, that is what I felt in the run chase, and almost got it through.”

India’s time for a post-mortem will come soon, but probably not before Monday considering there’s still a slim chance that hinges on Pakistan upsetting New Zealand. But Muzumdar was clear while those conversations may be inevitable, he underlined they couldn’t be faulted for lack of preparation or commitment from the players.

“I think in terms of preparation, we had everything going in that camp in Bangalore,” he said. “We had two camps; one was dedicated towards fitness and fielding and the other one was just the skill camp. Because we had about eight weeks to prepare.

“So, I couldn’t have asked for more from my support staff and I couldn’t have asked for more from the players. They gave their best in those camps. Preparation about this World Cup was thorough. We came into this World Cup really upbeat. Yeah, it is a little disappointing to lose the two games in the league stages.”

India’s build-up to the game had been fairly smooth – they even managed to train twice in Sharjah ahead of their first game of the competition there. They brought back Pooja Vastrakar into the XI after she had sufficiently recovered from a hamstring niggle. It meant S Sajana had to make way. Muzumdar termed this a no-brainer, and they wouldn’t have done anything different in hindsight.

“Look, we came into this work up with Pooja being one of the best bowlers going in the last 12 months,” Muzumdar explained. “Seeing her record and performances she was one of the best bowlers in the side and we had decided on this XI. This was probably one of the best XIs that we had.

“In these conditions, we wanted to have the sixth bowling option against Australia. I think that was probably one of the best teams to pick [for the tournament]. If you had picked [the squad] before the start of the tournament, I think you would have picked this 15. So we stuck by it.”

Muzumdar was also extremely complimentary of his captain, Harmanpreet, who fought through plenty of physical discomfort over the past two weeks. Muzumdar revealed Harmanpreet copped a blow on her head prior to India’s opening game, against New Zealand, but battled through pain. She was conformably India’s highest run-scorer in the league phase, hitting 150 runs in four innings at a strike rate of 133.92.

“I think it’s been fantastic working with this lot; this is a very special lot that we’re working with, and we care about each other, and I think Harman is a very integral part of this team,” Muzumdar said. “It’s been a fantastic 10 months working with her and all others as well. But yeah, I mean she’s fine. She’s going through a lot of pain.

“She got hit on her head right at the start of the tournament, just before the New Zealand game, I think one night prior when we were practicing. But she’s fine. I think she’s battling with it, and you can see it, but she’s a workhorse. So, I think she goes about doing her business [usually]. It’s been special working for the last 10 months and I’m looking forward to it [going forward].”