The semi-final against Australia and the final against England were the two ODI matches I enjoyed watching after a long time. Harmanpreet Kaur played the best knock by an Indian (man or woman) in a World Cup knockout game to drown the defending champions and that made the entire country sit up and take notice. Even though India failed to cross the final hurdle against the hosts at Lord’s, the match showed their spunk.
Jhulan proved that age is just a number, Punam Raut showed that her game also had another gear and Harmanpreet Kaur played an innings of maturity, for she didn’t start from where she’d left against Australia. She understood that it was a new day, a new game and Mithali’s absence demanded more caution at the start.
The highlight of this campaign was the rise of a different star in every game. It’s not often that you’d find that every member of the team played a pivotal role at different stages of the tournament but that was indeed the case this time, and that made it more special.