India women’s cricket team talked about playing aggressive and fearless cricket against the Australia women’s cricket team at Lord’s in what was a virtual quarterfinal match in the Women’s T20 World Cup 2026. However, barring Harmanpreet Kaur, no one walked the talk.
Smriti Mandhana struggles
The issue started at the top. Smriti Mandhana wasn’t in the flow from the moment she started. She batted until 11.3 overs, facing over half of the balls, and yet managed to score at just 102.70. In simpler terms, Mandhana scored 38 runs in 6.1 overs (37 balls). One can expect the vice-captain to anchor, but Mandhana neither utilised the powerplay nor did she kick on.
The issue isn’t the strike rate itself but intent. She faced 17 dots and just didn’t want to go out trying to get her way out. One understands that it isn’t her game, but you can’t leave your team in a hole. Shafali Verma wasn’t that threatening either after her explosive start.
Wrong entry points
The biggest issue was entry points. When Shafali departed in the 10th over, Jemimah Rodrigues was sent in. However, just 10.4 overs were left. Ideally, Harmanpreet should’ve promoted herself, considering the scoring rate wasn’t even 7. Instead, Jemimah got stuck in the middle. She was eventually retired out for 34 off 28 with just 6 balls left in the innings. This meant that Richa Ghosh, India’s most aggressive batter, faced just 1 ball in the innings. If that’s happening, you just aren’t using your resources well.
Harmanpreet Kaur fires
Harmanpreet was in woeful form. Her strike rate before the game was 106.25, and she had yet to hit a six. But the Indian captain saw Australia and stepped up, as she has several times in her career. India was 83/2 in 11.3 overs. India managed to score 87 further runs, out of which 56 came off her bat and that too in just 4.3 overs (27 balls). Without her, the Women in Blue wouldn’t have even scored 150 runs.
Why is Yastika Bhatia playing?
One can’t fault her batting at all. However, as mentioned above, perhaps she should’ve promoted herself and Richa ahead of Jemimah. Another annoying thing was Yastika Bhatia’s selection. She was slotted at three, but the moment the openers do well, you just know that she wouldn’t come out. What does that tell you? The management doesn’t trust her hitting. Then why is she even in the team? Why hasn’t Bharti Fulmali, a proper hitter, been given a run?
The final score and perhaps the end result might fool some people, but the management has to be asked questions about the batter’s intent, usage, and selections. The same has been happening for some time now, yet they keep on making the same mistakes over and over again.
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