The story of a World Cup lost

When Kapil's Devils held aloft the World Cup on June 25th 1983, the scenes back home were supposed to euphoric. I have to concede complete ignorance as I was too young to comprehend the magnitude of that event. However, seventeen years later, on 20 December 2000, when India were knocked out of the CricInfo Women's World Cup 2000, the disappointment felt gave me some idea of the kind of emotions a match of this stature can evoke. However, what drove the disappointment deeper home was the manner in which India capitulated.

Indian captain Anju Jain said after the match, "We were comprehensively outplayed in all departments of the game. On the day they, were too good for us." While that is true, that is not the whole story. India's defeat was waiting to happen given the number of factors that were missing in their build up. India's preparation for the CricInfo Women's World Cup 2000 began in earnest in April 2000, at the end of the CricInfo Rani Jhansi Trophy. From then to now, there have been many hurdles, many glitches and indeed many unfortunate occurrences that could have, and should have been ignored. But that is a different story, perhaps a different book even.

Looking only at the month or so that was the CricInfo Women's World Cup 2000, there is enough that went wrong. Things went wrong for the Indian campaign from the time India landed in New Zealand. When the team departed from India, it was common knowledge that former Indian captain Sudha Shah was the coach of the Indian side. The night the team was leaving for New Zealand, I passed on my best wishes to the coach of the team. Or so I thought. When the team landed in New Zealand, it was announced that another former international, Sreerupa Bose Mukherjee would take over as coach and Sudha Shah was pronounced Cricketing Manager. Without discounting Sreerupa Bose's credentials as a coach, it must be remembered that it was Sudha Shah who spent five camps with the Indian team in preparation to the CricInfo Women's World Cup 2000. Why did the Women's Cricket Association of India not think it fit to employ the services of Sreerupa Bose then? Sudha Shah had been with the team from the time the first 35 probables were selected, and indeed till the final fifteen were picked. She knew the team, its strengths and weaknesses better than anyone else. Yet she was overlooked. Could that possibly be in the best interests of the team?

Well, let's assume, for the sake of well being, that Sreerupa Bose did a fine job in her own right. Misfortune struck soon enough anyway. After averaging over 75 in three matches, Mithali Raj was taken ill with Paratyphoid can could play no further part in the tournament. If that was not enough of a blow, first sections of the media, and then umpires questioned the legality of bowling actions of two Indian cricketers - Renu Margrate and Purnima Rau. Margrate had done a more than decent job opening the bowling and Rau's offspinners were more than a handfull to deal with. After the allegations of chucking were raised, both bowlers lost rhythm badly and proved to be largely ineffective. Incidentally, neither bowler has ever been called in their careers, and that applies for this World Cup as well.

With all this going against them, the Indians took on an upbeat, professional New Zealand team in the semifinal. Under the best of circumstances, India would have to have pulled something special out of the hat to beat the Kiwis. As it turned out, the visitors were dismissed for a meagre 117 and ended up losing the match by nine wickets. What was apparent on the day was the lack of cohesion. While Anju Jain is a capable enough captain, she looked confused, harried even, by the way things unfolded. Following several different plans at once, Jain and her side lost the plot altogether. While one can hardly point fingers at her for what happened, one has to look at the events in dismay.

It was an accident waiting to happen, a victory waiting to be ruined. While one can't take anything away from the home side, even the New Zealand captain Emily Drumm admits that she did not expect to beat India so easily. The story of how India lost the CricInfo Women's World Cup is one that can't be told in one sitting...