Confident India Women no more in men's shadow

At the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore, the India women's team is in a huddle. Mithali Raj, the captain, does all the talking. The words seem measured, the instructions are absorbed by every member of the squad. They finally disperse. The rest of the evening is off. The team is allowed to do anything as long as they don't injure themselves - shopping, PlayStations, visiting friends or family, or maybe just relaxing within the comforts of their hotel rooms.

The build-up to the Women's World T20 has been exhaustive. A three-week tour of Australia, where they won a series for the first time, was followed by a home series against Sri Lanka. Then there was a week-long camp at the National Cricket Academy that was topped with two warm-up fixtures. In between, the players were summoned for photo shoots, ad shoots, commercial activities, fundraisers and charity events organised by the ICC. Par for the course, especially for a modern-day professional cricketer, it would seem. Not that the women, who have been flying under the radar for a long time now, are complaining.

The frenzy this time around is in stark contrast to the Women's World Cup in India three years ago. The team was put up at a budget hotel in south Mumbai, and were seen walking to the nearby Wankhede Stadium for training. It was only on the interference of Diana Edulji, the former captain, that they were shifted to a luxury hotel. It underlined the disparity between men's cricket and women's cricket in India.

Three years on, things have taken a significant turn for the better. The team looks a dynamic and confident unit, far different to the one that crashed out of the group stages at the 2014 World T20 in Bangladesh. If lack of preparation hampered their progress then, enough match time and exposure over the last year has given them a problem of plenty when it comes to picking their XI from a strong 15-member squad, on whom expectations are riding high.

"For the first time we are on billboards. It's nice to see friends and family ring us up and tell us that they have seen us on TV," Raj says. "I think a lot of it has got to do with our performance in Australia. For the first time, I can sense there is anticipation that we are up to something special. As a squad, we are quite confident. This feeling isn't something we have been used to in the past. We've been going into tournaments to compete, this time the mantra is to win it."

In Purnima Rau, who has seen Mithali evolve from her junior days in Hyderabad, they have a coach who is used to the pressure of playing at the top level. "In 2014, when we met in Visakhapatnam (for the series against Sri Lanka), the only seed I planted in their heads was that they deserve the World Cup. 'You girls are really good at it, and you really deserve it,' is what I told them. From then, I have been drilling it into them all the time," Rau said. "I never leave a moment. Whenever I say a few things, I use the words, 'World Cup' or 'No.1'. Time and again, I drum it into their heads - that this World Cup is theirs and that place [No.1] is theirs. In a very soft way, we got the opposition to get down on their knees in Australia. That has given them tremendous self-belief."

Raj and Rau share a good camaraderie, and that shines through as they put the team through their paces. Rau puts things into perspective when asked if the absence of a big support staff group is a hindrance. "Not at all, in fact that has helped bring the unit closer," she says. Rau oversees bowling drills, catches and fielding, while Mithali isn't averse to the idea of sharing her inputs with the other batsmen. At the end of every session, the video analyst takes each player through what they have done and how they can improve.

"The common mantra is to not change their style of play," Rau points out. "I think, having two legends, Jhulan [Goswami] and Mithali, in one team, and then having this bunch of young ones has really helped. Statistics-wise, I think it is going to take a lot more for these kids to catch up with them, but personally I have, like a mother hen, brought them together. I have made sure that Jhulan spends a lot of time with the youngsters like Smriti [Mandhana]. I throw them into those situations and make sure there is no gap or discrepancy or any issue that should keep them apart."

As part of her process, Rau works in close sync with Raj, who she believes is the engine room of the team. They have different ideas, but in terms of overall integration, they're together, analysing the data and suggesting corrective measures to players.

"Mithu [Raj] is a very open captain," Rau says. "There are times when I give her some strategies or plans because I feel they should be followed in that match, and she laps it up easily. In fact, sometimes I might have reservations about what I am telling her, but she has innate faith in what I am saying and she immediately puts that [into practice] on the field. She loves challenges and she loves what the game throws up. She wants to be ready for that and knows it will never be smooth. But she keeps throwing ideas around all the time."

One of those ideas was to interact with the men's team in Australia, one which Rau says added to the team's confidence. "The dressing rooms were facing each other and we even shared a nets session," Rau explains. "Raina bowled to Smriti Mandhana at the MCG. [Shikhar] Dhawan, [Ajinkya] Rahane even stopped and watched the nets because they were so impressed with the way the girls were playing. Raina even said that he watched the match, and this is what happened, and that is what we should have done. In fact, the boys were very enthusiastic about the girls. It's great to see that kind of support.

"In Hyderabad, you get that kind of support. Venkatapathy Raju has bowled to me and we have played with the Ranji boys, but to extend that culture to an Indian team is great. For these girls, getting that respect and admiration from the boys has really helped to take their game to another level."

Harmanpreet Kaur, the vice-captain, explained it in the best possible way when asked what interacting with the men taught the side. "The men's team was there for a while, and had lost four consecutive games, but when we went there and met them at a practice session, we saw they were so positive despite being beaten so badly. We got positive vibes from them. We didn't think any other team would have such vibes after losing so badly. We learnt from them that it doesn't matter if you win or lose, but just play aggressively."

It's natural to wonder why the same spark was missing, considering the team has been built around the same set of players who played the World T20 in 2014. "Contracts have made a lot of difference, it has freed them," Rau explains. "Financially, if you are secure, you don't worry too much and become a maverick somewhere down the line. Also, the BCCI have got the Under-23 tournament started. At around the age of 23 we were losing girls to marriage or just not playing enough. Now with a tournament in place, at 23, they are mature enough and ready to catapult to the Indian level.

"The Under-16 too has been a great move by the BCCI. I think now [domestic] women's cricket has its age-groups nicely catered to, and it's now just a question of winning something big, winning something which you always know you can and you deserve to. I am not just looking at this World T20 or the 2017 World Cup. With the kind of talent and potential India have, we can assert our supremacy for the next three World Cups like the Australians have done. This is what the team should believe in."

Rau brushes aside suggestions of India being in an easy group, but insists they will not underestimate anyone. "I wouldn't take even Pakistan and Bangladesh lightly. It's a T20 game, on their day a team could be extremely good and I wouldn't want to do that," she says. But I know even if they are 60 all out, this Indian team will get them [the opposition] 58 all out. I want them to play unhindered cricket, basically cricket where they enjoy every moment."