Sunil Gavaskar has questioned whether India selected a fully fit squad during the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup after Harmanpreet Kaur‘s side fell short of the semi-finals, with the former India Captain also identifying tactical shortcomings that he believes contributed to the team’s early exit.
Writing in his column for Sportstar, Gavaskar reflected on India’s campaign after they finished third in Group A behind Australia and South Africa, narrowly missing out on a place in the last four.
South Africa loss left India with no margin for error
India made a positive start to the tournament by defeating Pakistan and the Netherlands before their campaign suffered a major setback against South Africa. Harmanpreet’s side posted 158/7, but South Africa successfully chased 161/4 in 19.1 overs to secure a six-wicket victory with five balls remaining.
That result left India chasing qualification for the remainder of the group stage. Although they bounced back with a win over Bangladesh, South Africa recovered from their only defeat of the tournament against Australia to win their remaining matches, leaving India needing to beat Australia in their final group fixture to keep their semi-final hopes alive.
India responded with a competitive 170/4 against Australia, but the six-time champions completed the chase to end India’s campaign. Australia finished top of Group A with 10 points, South Africa advanced with eight, while India finished third on six.
Reflecting on the campaign, Gavaskar wrote: “The Indian women losing to Australia wasn’t a big surprise, but it didn’t make the day any better. They should have beaten South Africa, but so abysmal was their fielding against them that they lost from a good position and were virtually out of the tournament with that loss.”
Gavaskar questions player fitness
Beyond the results, Gavaskar also raised concerns over whether every member of the squad was fully fit during the tournament, suggesting visible signs of injury had prompted questions.
“It’s tough to comment from this distance, but the question that most cricket lovers would ask is: did we play all fit players, or were there some who weren’t 100%? Playing a player who isn’t fully fit is understandable if that player is an impact player capable of delivering, even if not fully fit. Otherwise, it suggests that the reserve players are not good enough to take the injured player’s place. Hopefully, I am completely wrong, but to see players playing with bandaged fingers does give the impression that they are carrying an injury, even if it may be a minor one,” he wrote.
Gavaskar also pointed to India’s tactical approach in the field, arguing opportunities to counter opposition batters were missed during the tournament.
“The other aspect that was noticeable is that, despite the 50-over win and the other matches where runs against the spinners were regularly taken over extra cover, there was no attempt to cover that gap with a fielder and make the batters attempt lofted shots with an open face of the bat,” he added.
Focus turns to lessons from the campaign
India entered the tournament among the contenders but were unable to convert a strong start into a semi-final berth, with defeats to South Africa and Australia proving decisive in the final standings.
Gavaskar concluded by urging India’s teams to take valuable lessons from recent setbacks, writing: “Every game has to be a learning experience, and some learning curves are steep and sharp. If our men’s and women’s teams learn from that, then Indian cricket lovers may not have another Sunday like this for a long, long time.”
