Fitness and fielding letting Indian women’s cricket team down

Fitness has been the top priority for Indian mens’ cricket team in the last few years; several players (with a big reputation) were dropped from the team if they didn’t score well in the fitness department. The result is that India’s fielding, catching and running between the wickets have improved a lot over the years.

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I guess a similar thing needs to be done with the women’s cricket team.

Fielding and fitness have hurt Indian women’s cricket team in recent years, with many having ‘lead feet, butter fingers’ reputation.

In the recent test series against Australia, India’s ground fielding oscillated between unbearable to unbelievable, and more than ten catching chances were put down over the course of three matches.

While coaches keep a close eye on the way other teams train, Australian team’s system of using a ‘Fielding Impact Rating’ to score their players in every game has captured the attention of several other teams.

Women can hit massive sizes too

When Harmanpreet was playing her semi-final knock, social media was buzzing with comments from Indian sports fan, who until now, had never seen a women’s cricket match. There were many (including men) who made sure they watched the highlights of Harmanpreet’s performance the next day. Harmanpreet slammed 171 of just 115 balls (hit 20 fours and seven huge sixes) in the 2017 Women’s World Cup Semi-final match against Australia.

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A Young cricketer says she never believed a woman (Harmanpreet) could hit so many sixes in an international game. “She has helped us overcome that mental barrier. Harmanpreet showed us anything is possible.”

Indians in general have now become more receptive towards other sports (besides men’s cricket). They keep a tab on India’s performance in other sporting competitions now, be it Badminton, Hockey, Kabaddi, or women’s cricket. It’s now for the Indian women’s cricket team to raise the bar further and attract a much bigger audience.