India versus Australia in a semi-final. The worst-kept secret in women's cricket is, you have to beat Australia, and they are a standard above most other teams. Is there a psychology involved here where players are also intimidated when it comes to Australia?
I think it's because, for years, they have been the dominant team in women's cricket. And year after year, they qualify for the finals of whether it's a T20 World Cup or a one-day World Cup, and you expect them to. That sort of reputation they carry. But then, with the exposure of WPL, I think things have really changed for Indian women's cricket.
So can you relate this to, say, 2017 and 2022, the two World Cups that you were most recently part of, where it was a little different before an Australia game? You felt like these guys are going to be tougher than other teams to beat. And now, since then, the fact that you yourself have spent time in [WPL] franchises, you've actually seen these Australian players, when you get to interact with them, know them, does that humanise the player to a point where you're not as intimidated by them in a contest?
I think it does help if you spend some time in and around them, especially during WPL, because the players then get to know what they think, how their mindset is, what their preparation is in certain situations, while playing in the same team. How do they approach those situations? Do they have a back-up plan? Or how do they take it forward from there?
So I think these experiences definitely have helped the current players, because when I've seen them play in the bilateral series before the World Cup, I think India won a game and did give a good fight in the other game as well, the third one in Delhi, and that was a very high-scoring [match] on that ground. At one point, I felt India was cruising towards winning that game. So maybe I also feel that Australia could be having those doubts when it comes to the knockouts, especially if they're facing India.
Okay, that's the other psychology of it. Whether Australia, if you give them a list of opponents, they actually don't want India more than others. I'll come to that in a moment. But give me a little more, perhaps your own experience, an example of you would have played against a Beth Mooney or an Ash Gardner, and then you sort of see them as part of your own team. How did that kind of change how you look at some of these formidable Australian players?
Well, it also gives you insights as to how they think when it comes to certain games. I personally feel that everybody should have at least three to four plans when they walk onto the ground. There are certain players who stick to the plan irrespective of whether it works or not and there are players who are quite adaptive to changing their plan on the field.
So you understand how Australians work in and around that, how quickly they change their plans on the field, the game awareness. When it comes to especially the bowling unit, they quickly read the wicket and they spread the word around. It doesn't take time for the bowler to come and then get into rhythm, find the spots that they need to.
So this is what I realised, being with the franchise team [Gujarat Giants] for the first couple of seasons.
Do you sense that players that played with you and are still part of this, they would also look at an Australian opposition slightly differently to how they did maybe even at the last World Cup in 2022?
Well, I think now there is this thought that it's a possibility to beat this Australian side despite all the strengths that they boast: the deep batting line-up, the bowling attack they have, the number of allrounders in the playing XI. And still, with all of those strengths, you still can beat this Australian side, is the thought process in the current Indian set-up. Because of the number of games they've won in this calendar year, the form of the players, and how they have built on it.
Mithali Raj on the combination India could play in the semi-final against Australia
What's a team environment like ahead of an Australia semi-final, which you would have experienced in 2017, but even ahead of playing Australia in a major knockout? How is it different from other big games?
Well, when it comes to the World Cups and when you're in the knockouts, you know you need to have that one good day on that day to get into the finals. Even Australians know that they have to come with the best in a knockout game. Otherwise, you're packing your bags. So, for India, I know for a fact that they will be all positive and take a lot of strength from the group game that they've played in Vizag, for the fact that they were able to post 300 [330] because in the press [conference], I heard Alyssa Healy say that [it's] not every day that you chase 300. So that itself gives you a little bit [of a peek] into the thinking that, at some point, they felt these runs were a lot more [than they would have been comfortable chasing].
Okay, let's visualise situations against Australia. One of the things we almost get is even if you have them five or six down, you don't feel like they're under pressure. They fight back. We've seen it from Ash Gardner [against New Zealand], we've seen it from Australia against Pakistan when they were eight down [for 115] as well. What's the one thing this Indian team, Harmanpreet Kaur in the field, will have to keep in mind if you find Australia on top or if you find Australia in trouble? Because we know this is one team [against whom] you just cannot think, "oh, we've got them."
Well, one thing going well for the Indian team is that the spinners have done well. But the fact [is] that this venue [Navi Mumbai] has the least spin that it offers from the surface [of the World Cup venues]. So what would be the bowling unit, getting into the semi-finals? Second is that you need to get early breakthroughs. That's very important when you're playing Australia because they depend on the start Alyssa Healy and Phoebe Litchfield give. And if you go by the last couple of games, you know that Ellyse Perry is also not among the runs.
So it does give a little bit of hope that the middle order, still, with quality bowlers, can be curtailed. The runs can be curtailed in the middle overs if you put pressure on them. But if they get a partnership going, then that's trouble. You need to have bowlers who can break those partnerships.
So what should be India's best balance? Because we think after the New Zealand game, if it's only going to be five frontline bowlers, that is a cause for concern. Australia might take down a Pratika Rawal*, might take down one of the main bowlers. What should be India's balance here, in your view?
It can either be three seamers, two spinners, and you can expect Harman [Harmanpreet Kaur] to pitch in, roll her arm [over] as a spinner, to get those four-five overs from a sixth bowler. If you require those overs in the middle overs and you want to keep Deepti Sharma's overs in the end, you need to fill in that gap in the middle overs. So it could be Harman or Pratika.
And if you want to go in with three spinners and two seamers, then you'll have to find a way to use those seamers, one of them at least in the death overs, because Renuka [Singh] is very good with the new ball, but she's not as effective with the old ball. Will you keep her overs, or finish her overs in the first ten? And Kranti Gaud, how are you going to use [her]?
What is a bigger concern, if I can call it for this Indian team, is that if you have to add a sixth bowler, if you bring Amanjot Kaur in, it has to be for a specialist batter and the only specialist batter now, with the kind of form Jemi [Jemimah Rodrigues] showed in the New Zealand game, is Harleen Deol. But then if you find yourself a wicket down [early]? These are all the kinds of plans I'm sure you think of. So what is the right way to approach such a big game against Australia?
If you go by the right approach, India should stick to the combination that they feel is their strength. Sometimes, the psychological thing is also very important. You need to feel confident with the XI that you're getting in. Irrespective of what the world thinks of the combination.
But everything aside, what the team feels confident about. [Is it] having an extra batter, and they can sort of let go of the sixth bowler and manage somehow? Or do they need an allrounder there, so that they can back it up with [a] few overs and batting depth?
The former India captain feels Australia have points of vulnerability that India can exploit
Knowing Harmanpreet Kaur on this team, do you sense that that becomes a harder decision when it's Australia? If there was someone else in the opposition, maybe you would have still said, "right, we can take a punt on one batter light", but do you sense that India will go in with the extra cushion of batting, because that gives them a better chance?
I think so, because this entire year, whenever they've posted 300, they've always gone with an extra batter, because they feel like there is still batting to come. Even, say, for example, you have an early wicket in the form of Smriti [Mandhana] or Pratika, then you know that you still have batters. I think against England, they felt, despite that, that's the best combination. I think we sort of let that match go, couldn't chase down [289]. But that was the best combination.
After that, they got in an extra batter. It sort of reflects that they feel they need to have batters.
How do you put pressure on Australia during a game?
I think Australia will feel the pressure of the opening batters. If our opening batters get the start, if Smriti gets going, they know that she has the ability to sort of stick in there and the entire India batting will revolve around her. That we've seen, as I spoke about, [in] the third [match of the] one-day bilateral series when they were chasing [400-plus], and going by Australia, whenever it is a knockout at the big games, they always like to put runs on the board and put the pressure back on to the other team.
Do you sense that this is, with the youngish group of bowlers that India have now, Kranti, Sree Charani, there isn't as much baggage as, say, our senior players who've played [for] so many years? Is that a good thing or sometimes you think, "oh, we need experience in a semi-final?" How do you view India's relative rawness or inexperience versus such an experienced Australian team? Can it be an advantage?
It can be an advantage because one thing that you don't want, as a player, is to get overwhelmed with the occasion that you're playing a semi-final in front of your home crowd, people are watching, everybody's tuning in, and then, you're not up to it. So I think it's an advantage that there is no bane of that experience one carries. Yes, the load then shifts a lot more on the experienced lot in the team. That is, say, Deepti Sharma, Sneh Rana, who all have played World Cups in the past, Renuka Thakur, all of them have an added job to do then.
Are Australia less strong or less invincible than [in] a lot of other ICC events in recent years?
I would say, yeah, less invincible is the right way to put it. In this tournament itself, we've seen a couple of games where their middle order was tested. Yes, though they bat deep, you know that the top order can be bundled out. You can get their wickets for a smaller total. Teams who've got quality bowlers, who've been backed with good fielding, were able to put that pressure on Australia. So it's not like they are unbeatable.
Now, the point you made a little while earlier about the other way around. India haven't beaten any of the other semi-finalists. This tournament has been filled with ups and downs. On the other hand, Australia brushed aside South Africa and finished top [of the points table]. They made light work of England. India still tested them. What do you know of how Australia's players currently view India? Are they perhaps the trickiest of the other semi-finalists? Do they look at India with any kind of, I wouldn't say intimidation, because Australia are that good, but this is a team that is likelier to beat us than a lot of other teams - do you think that's true for Australia?
Possibly, yes, because they know that India does have the players in them to take the match away, or the moments to shift during the game. Whether it is batting, they know, "okay, it's just not Smriti." Pratika Rawal has [also] got a hundred [...] So yes, for them, the first hurdle would be our openers. Every time India have posted 300, I've spoken [about] this many times, it is due to the opening pair. So they will be looking at getting them early. That probably will be one big plan from the Australian side.
Bat first, if you're India, because that's been the template of this team, under Harman and [head coach] Amol Mazumdar. Let's bat first, let's get to 300, maybe 330. There's a chance to get 350, 360 at Vizag. That didn't happen. But is that India's best chance still, rather than a chase against Australia?
We'll see. I think, yes, because it's a big game for both teams, and Australia also play that way. [In] important games, they usually would like to put score on the board, and not take the pressure of chasing, and I'm sure from the last [meeting] in the league, when India have put on that 300-plus runs, it nearly went till the end.
So India will be looking at, let's put a good total on the board, and if you're going with an extra batter, that would be the right way to look at it.
The former India captain stresses the importance of recognising momentum-shifting moments during the semi-final
How big a game is this for Harmanpreet Kaur, the captain, in the field, to get her bowling changes right, to make sure that fielders are in the right places? India have set pretty good standards in the field, but then suddenly when Australia come as the opposition, like we saw in that bilateral series, catches go down, run-outs happen. Can you make sense of that, whether a team that's otherwise of good standards, somehow, is it just pressure against Australia, where they make mistakes happen?
Well, I think it is just the expectation of being at your best against this side, because they demand nothing less than that. When we talk about the semi-finals, I think the expectation is a lot more on the Australians, because they have not made it in the T20 World Cup [last year] and so they will be looking [to make up for it], and everybody knows Australia is the strongest team, so they carry that reputation, whereas India have made it to the semi-finals, don't carry the baggage.
I would say, don't think like, "okay, we are playing at home", just approach it as if you are playing in England or you are playing in Australia. You don't have anything to lose; you just go there and play your best. Australia have lots to lose.
One bit of advice to this team, if you would like to give it, from your learnings of having played Australia, knowing what can happen to an Indian team in a big semi-final, which I am sure is going to [bring in] a packed crowd. What is the key advice or the pre-team talk that you would like to remind them of?
Well, I would just tell them that you have made it to the semi-finals, so it is just that one game, but do not put too much pressure [on yourselves]. If you play well, you qualify; you want to play the finals, everybody does. But right now, today is the day that you have to be at your best, just not your skill, but even your mental preparation has to be the best.
There will be things going our way, may not go our way during the game, but the awareness... if you are present, the game awareness is important against the best side. The game gives you moments where you can shift the momentum [towards] you. If you are not aware, then you let that go, and Australia are very good at that. So if you want to beat Australia, you have to pick those moments.
What is your gut feeling?
My gut feeling says it is going to be a tight game.
And the chances of India to prevail in a tight game? 50-50? 60-40? 51-49?
I think I will give Australia 60, India 40.
*The interview was conducted before Pratika Rawal was ruled out of the tournament with an ankle injury.