Women's T20 World Cup 2024: Harmanpreet Kaur and team need to show up as group stage exit is closer than it appears

Add as a preferred source on Google

For long, the Indian women cricketers had been complaining about a lack of pay parity and not getting enough opportunities compared to their male counterparts. So much has changed for the Women In Blue in the last three years, they cannot complain about anything.

If anyone has a right to crib, then it is the fans who back them. On Sunday (October 6), when former captain Mithali Raj carried the trophy out before the match against Pakistan in the ongoing ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2024 in the UAE, it made many fans emotional. Mithali, herself, was not able to get her hands on one big trophy during her playing career.

As Harmanpreet Kaur and her bunch of cricketers take on Si Lanka in the ICC Women's T20 World Cup match in Dubai tonight, they will do well to remember fans back a side when it is winning. If the women want to be cheered, then there has to be a big win.

The loss to New Zealand and then huffing and puffing against Pakistan, thus impacting the NRR -- net run rate - means India are in trouble. Against Sri Lanka, a side which has looked pathetic in this World Cup, India should not find it tough. However, it was the same side which defeated Harmanpreet & Co. at the Women's Asia Cup T20 last month, hence they can't be taken lightly either.

But the big picture is what happens against Australia, a mighty side, on Sunday (October 13). Will India stay in the tournament and for how long?

What has been galling is the way India have spoken after the two matches. Firstly, for Harmanpreet Kaur to not have come for the press conference after the loss to New Zealand was wrong.

She sent Jemimah Rodrigues, who was just not on. A skipper has to face the press and offer an explanation. This is not professionalism at all from Harmanpreet, who, as it is, has earned a reputation for being arrogant.

Nobody can forget how she behaved in Bangladesh last year. Then again, Harmanpreet is at that stage in her career where even if things go wrong, she has to be wise enough to handle criticism.

In the last match, she did enough with the bat for a win but the net run rate was just not factored. What one has heard from the team members is how winning is more important. No way, one has to keep an eye on the NRR because defeating Australia will be a miracle in the desert.

Where is all the planning taking place, with fielding standards from the Indian women so pathetic? Amol Mazumdar as current coach has not pressed hard with the team and if India fail to do well this time, he should be prepared to face the axe.

For those who will compare the women with the men and say they, too, do not win big trophies regularly, the comparison will not hold water. So much has been done for the women cricketers in the last two years. The launch of the WPL - Women's Premier League has been a boon.

The players now have money as well as an opportunity to compete more often. They do not have to just rely on the Big Bash League. Unless Indian women's cricket ups its performance, they can never expect the same backing.

Tonight, the men will be taking on Bangladesh at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi in a T20 match. It is well known, that India, under Suryakumar Yadav, are strong. At the same time, if Harmanpreet and her side want fans to track them also, they need to show greater intent.

The common perception these days is that women cricketers are so full of themselves, that they care little about what critics and fans think. Any sport will survive only if there are top-class performances. To trip at every hurdle will only set the sport back.

Indian women's cricket wanted professionalism and it has been granted. They wanted money and it has been showered. So, get the results, please. If not, fans are not going to back you as a national team. Lest one forget, it was at the same Kotla, that the WPL produced plenty of thrills. It will not take much time for a club vs country debate to be stirred in women's cricket as well.