After leading India women's national cricket team to two big, back-to-back wins in a matter of days, captain Harmanpreet Kaur on Sunday revealed the secret behind their success. India humbled Australia by eight wickets in Mumbai to register their first-ever win against the Southern Stars in Test cricket. Only days ago, they thrashed England by a record run margin. (Scorecard | Cricket News)
After India's historic win against Australia, Kaur said that the key to their success lies in keeping "things very simple" and playing "positive cricket" -- two aspects which were on display, in abundance, during their Test outings against England and Australia.
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At Wankhede Stadium, playing their first Test against ever-dominant Aussies for the first time since 1984, the Indian women's team never shied away from taking the game to their opponents. As in any game, there were moments, of course, to play catch up, and they well even in those circumstances, like breaking a stand or wrapping up things.
"It's a reward for all the hard work we have done for so many years. Credit goes to all our support staff, especially our bowling coach and batting coach. We tried to keep things very simple. It's a reward for all the hard work and all the patience," Kaur said immediately after the historic win.
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India women, asked to bowl first, first dismissed Australia women for 219 runs, then replied with a 406-run innings. Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues and Deepti Sharma reached the 70s, while Richa Ghosh hit a half-century, a mark both Shafali Verma and Pooja Vastrakar came close to achieving.
"We thought if we can play some positive cricket, it can really help us. We have been playing with this bunch for so many years and if we could do shuffle a bit here and there. We put Richa [Ghosh} up, we know how she can bat, if she's there she can damage the game, that's the reason we put her there," Kaur added. "We didn't want to go back to defensive cricket. We needed to stay in the moment."
Australia did dominate on Day 3 with Tahlia McGrath leading the fight back, but India emerged like Lionesses on the final day. And it took 18.4 balls to complete the rites, a first Test win against the Aussies.
It was a continuation of what Harmanpreet Kaur & Co. had started in Navi Mumbai, against England. Playing a first Test match at home in years, they dominated the visitors from Day 1 then polished off a fine win, by 347-run victory for a world record. It was India's first win over England at home in 15 Tests, having beaten them in away games twice in 2014.
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A few days later, India beat Australia for the first time in 10 attempts. Women's cricket has found its newest emerging powers. And come February-March, the world's top talents will gather in India to witness just that.
