Why the postponement of the 50-over Women’s World Cup is a blessing in disguise for India

New Zealand may be almost corona free, but the International Cricket Council still did not find reason enough to have the 50-over Women’s World Cup next year and instead pushed it to 2022, in a decision taken on Friday. The postponement of the 2021 Women’s World Cup may come as a disappointment to a countless number of fans, but in that lies an opportunity for India.

It gives a full year to form a schedule, specifically for women’s cricket, consisting of ODIs, T20Is and if required four-day matches and identify new players that could give the depth that Indian women’s cricket desperately needs.

India’s concern in ODI cricket is essentially its middle-order and to an extent, its bowlers. The middle-order currently is heralded by Harmanpreet Kaur, Deepti Sharma, Veda Krishnamurthy and Taniya Bhatia.

Kaur’s slot at four seems settled. In the past, Sharma has been elevated to bat up the order. Bhatia was promoted up the order during the World T20 this year.

That leaves Krishnamurthy, whose patchy form hasn’t always helped the team. There is no questioning her potential or her experience, it is her consistency or the lack of it that has let India down. And so, the next year provides India with that chance: To find a backup player, who can give that dependability to the side.

Richa Ghosh looks like one of those players, but if the BCCI can sit down, form a schedule for women’s cricket in India in the next year, then before the World Cup, they could have sufficient depth to pick from.The other point of contention is the third seamer’s slot.

Unless something drastic happens, Jhulan Goswami and Shikha Pandey look good to be the front-line seam bowling options for the tournament. The postponement could actually prove useful for the former, who will now have some more time to maintain her fitness and be ready for the tournament.

India could, however, need a third seamer for the competition, especially because it will happen in February-March in conditions that could aid quick bowling in New Zealand. They tried out Arundhati Reddy at the World T20, but perhaps lost patience midway through the competition.

If they are smart, then they will look to groom a bowler, who can bowl 10 overs and bat a bit. That will allow them to do two things: Play 6 batswomen, have this player at 7 and then play Goswami and Pandey and the two spinners or play seven proper batswomen and play either Goswami or Pandey with this player and play two spinners.

At the moment, in Kaur and Deepti Sharma, they have two batswomen who turn their arm over, but if they can identify a quick bowler, who can bowl her full quota and give runs with the bat at 7 or 8, then it will elongate the tail just a bit more for the team to feel comfortable.

So, how can India have that schedule planned out next year?

For starters, they need people in place to plan those matches. A selection committee- both at the senior and junior level- is the need of the hour.

Then perhaps they could look at the girls playing domestic 50-over tournaments, one each in February and March. Before the Women’s T20 tournament, depending on when it happens, they could have a T20 tournament.

Post this, in June, India could organise an ‘A’ series, that coincides with the senior women’s team playing at home or overseas. These should ideally have 5–7 ODIs, 3 T20Is and one Test. That would mean the players identified in the two 50-over tournaments and the two T20 tournaments get a chance to play at a level just below the international standard.

In the second half of the year, India must have three more 50-over tournaments, preferably in August, September and October. Have two ‘A’ series, one each in November and December. If required, the latter in December could be a squad, largely of players, who would board that flight to New Zealand, get acclimatised much before the tournament and then be raring to go for the tournament in February.

Hopefully, with so much in place, it would have helped the selectors find a way to identify players who could take Indian cricket forward, even after the World Cup is over. It is a mistake India have made after finishing as runners-up in 2017, it is something they can rectify much earlier this time around.

India must view this postponement as an opportunity to grow its women’s cricket. If they can grab the chance, you could finally see the women’s game in the country heading in the right direction, both on and off the field.