Indian women's cricket wrapped their Australia tour with another huge defeat in the third ODI on Wednesday. Smriti Mandhana scored her 9th ODI century but India fell to an 83-defeat while chasing a 299-run target at WACA Ground.
With a 0-3 series loss and the ODI World Cup coming next year, the Indian women's cricket team has come under scrutiny for their performances. Captain Harmanpreet Kaur shared her thoughts after India's heavy loss against mighty Australia in Perth.
Harmanpreet praised Arundhati Reddy and Smriti Mandhana but acknowledged India's poor performance on the tour. She talked about India's lack of effort in finishing the games despite starting well with a bat in the third match.
"We bowled well, Arundhati especially, because of her we were in the game," Harmanpret Kaur said in the post-match interview. "We have a lot to learn from these games, will go back and analyse the tour. Smriti knock and when Richa scored 50 in the second game, that was crucial. We did well in patches, did not continue to keep the momentum. We have to learn how to take things till the end."
Indian women's team also faced criticism after failing to secure the knockouts in the recent T20 World Cup. Captain Harmanpreet came under pressure for her leadership skills and inconsistent performances in the mega tournament.
Smriti Mandhana also failed to reach double-digit scores in the first two ODIs against Australia but came strong with a century today. She became the first female cricketer to record four ODI centuries in a calendar year but her performances at the ICC tournaments do not comfort Indian fans ahead of the ODI World Cup at home next year.
The Women in Blue next face West Indies at home in three T20Is and the same number of ODI games starting on December 15. Ireland women's team also tour India for the three-match ODI series in January next year.
