Riding on skipper Chamari Athapaththu’s rich vein of form and left-hand batter Harshitha Samarawickrama’s finale special, Sri Lanka ran through defending champion India to claim its first-ever Asia Cup title.
Sri Lanka dictated the pace of the game almost in entirety at the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium as India fell short of sealing what would have been a record-extending eighth title in the tournament.
With the Women’s T20 World Cup in Bangladesh around the corner, the Harmanpreet Kaur-led side will need to not only fill some gaping cracks, but also paint over them with something that lasts.
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A Russian roulette at No. 3?
India’s dominance with the bat in the tournament was headlined by the on-song pair of Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma. The duo finished the continental event as the second and third-highest runscorers of the edition.
The pair is third on the list of pairs with most runs in women’s T20Is (2483 runs), behind New Zealand’s Suzie Bates-Sophie Devine (2554) and Australia’s Alyssa Healy-Beth Mooney (2562).
However, even this explosive pair could not gloss over the instability of the number three position in the batting order. Three players —Dayalan Hemalatha, Sajeevan Sajana, and Uma Chetry— were tried out, but none were really able to make the position their own.
| Batter | Opponent | Runs scored |
| Dayalan Hemalatha | Pakistan | 14 (11b) |
| Dayalan Hemalatha | UAE | 2 (4b) |
| Sajeevan Sajana | Nepal | 10 (12b) |
| Uma Chetry | Bangladesh | Did not bat |
| Uma Chetry | Sri Lanka | 9 (7b) |
Earlier this year, Hemalatha had a few good outings in the position against Bangladesh in a five-match T20I series, but consistency was lacking. The management seems to prefer Jemimah Rodrigues— whose patient style of innings construction suits the anchor the no.3 needs to be quite well — at no.5 instead. This has been India’s preferred choice in the Asia Cup as well.
D. Hemalatha | Photo Credit: X/ BCCI Women
Before getting injured, even Yastika Bhatia was tried in this position, in the first match in the Bangladesh series, where she scored a decent 36 off 29. If fit, she might just slot back into this role again.
A wake up call for the bowlers
Indian bowlers made merry against the relatively inexperienced batting line-ups of the Associate nations in the fray, most of whom haven’t played much against higher-ranked opponents like the Women in Blue.
Deepti Sharma even ended the tournament as the highest wicket-taker with 10 scalps. However, when the going got tough, India’s bowlers failed to get going.
Against the sword that is Athapaththu’s bat, pacers Renuka Singh and Pooja Vastrakar failed to intimidate the Sri Lankan skipper with their variations. While the batter did fail to connect with Deepti’s delivery that was aimed at Athapaththu’s leg stump, which eventually was struck to send her back, the Indian bowlers crumbled under pressure.
They were out of solutions even against Samarawickrama’s quick thinking, who was reverse-sweeping the likes of Deepti and Radha Yadav. The batter was also able to find the gaps in the outfield layout that left the bowlers and skipper Harmanpreet scratching their heads.
When the side is faced with teams like Australia amongst others in the T20 World Cup, Amol Muzumdar and his team has to imbibe the importance of mental conditioning to the bowlers, especially when met with hard-hitting batters.
Poor fielding
Incredible performances with the bat and ball can only hide avoidable mistakes on the field for so long. Misfields, dropped catches, and an overall lackadaisical attitude in fielding has been ruling the roost around India’s recent matches.
The likes of Shafali Verma and Renuka Singh often concede runs when a bit of effort could have prevented the situation. Even skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, perhaps due to nerves, dropped Samarawickrama in the 16th over, a catch which could have turned the game.
Shafali had spoken about the importance of improving the fielding ahead of India’s semifinal clash against Bangladesh. “We are working hard on our fielding. Hopefully, we will be able to tick the boxes in all three departments – batting, bowling, fielding – tomorrow against Bangladesh,” she said, who herself had misfielded and conceded a four in the 19th over against Nepal.
Even Radha, who is usually considered one of the best in the outfield, had some aberrations in the field. One instance was against Pakistan in the 15th over to concede a boundary. However, the towering player redeemed herself a few overs later when she run out Syeda Shah with a direct throw, immediately after she executed an audacious attempt at a catch.
While there are plenty of positives for the Indian bowling scene, the fielding is letting the outfit down.
However, there have been positive signs towards the business end of the tournament. Shafali has looked active at occasions, prepared to go the extra mile to take a catch or two. Even Renuka did well in the deep on a few instances in the final to save some runs.
Special mention goes to Uma who despite not getting many minutes with the bat has done well in the outfield, which was especially seen against Bangladesh when the player did well to sprint in the deep to save boundaries.
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