The Indian eves have now put their semi-final qualification chances in jeopardy.
The Indian Women’s team suffered a heartbreaking loss last night in a must-win clash against Australia Women in the ongoing ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024.
The Women in Blue failed to chase down 152 in their last group-stage game after succumbing to a 9-run loss and putting their qualification chances to the semi-final in jeopardy.
Following the loss, former India women’s cricketer Punam Raut took a dig at four senior players, including skipper Harmanpreet Kaur. Notably, Raut, who has represented India in four Tests, 73 ODIs, and 35 T20Is, scoring 3282 runs across formats, including four hundreds and 15 half-centuries highlighted that experience doesn’t matter if it’s not implemented properly.
The part-time off-spinner, who has also bagged four wickets and played her last game for India in 2021 took to her social media handle on X (formerly Twitter) to voice her concerns.
Punam Raut wrote on X: “Having 100 matches experience = 0 experience.. if it’s can’t be applied in big games.”
India’s top stars Smriti Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues failed to make much of an impact in the crucial fixture, departing early for scores of 6 (12) and 16 (12), respectively. Although skipper Harmanpreet Kaur and Deepti Sharma hit 54* (47) and 29 (25), the duo, however, failed to take the team over the line.
Kaur attracted criticism as well for her decisions, where in particular she took two singles off as many deliveries in the last over when India needed 14 runs off Annabel Sutherland in the last over.
ALSO READ: Harmanpreet Kaur drops the easiest of chances to provide a lifeline to Tahila McGrath [WATCH]
Speaking about India’s qualification chances, the Indian eves will now hope for Pakistan Women to beat New Zealand Women in order to secure a semis berth. India (4 points from 4 games), New Zealand (4 points from 3 games), and Pakistan (2 points from 3 games) are in a three-horse race for a place in knockout matches.
For more updates, follow Cricxtasy on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Telegram and YouTube.