Smriti Mandhana sat alone in a single nook of the Indian dugout as her group crumbled towards England on Sunday, October 19. As the remainder of the nation ready to have fun the pageant of lights, the Indian dressing room stayed quiet — a sure darkness lingering within the air.
Mandhana, who confronted a troublesome post-match press convention, was onerous on herself. She blamed her personal shot for triggering the collapse, admitting that her dismissal got here at a pivotal second within the recreation and will have shifted the momentum.
The temper within the Indian ladies’s group stands in stark distinction to the celebrations the males’s group loved through the 2023 ODI World CupAgain then, the Indian males have been seen celebrating Diwali in conventional put on, surrounded by their households and glowing with confidence. However this time, the environment is grim. As the ladies’s group travels from Indore to Mumbai on the day of Diwali, there’ll probably be no crackers, no festive lights, and no gala dinner.
And maybe that is honest. On Sunday, India slumped to their third consecutive defeat within the Ladies’s ODI World Cup 2025. Since getting back from Sri Lanka after their conflict with Pakistan, the group has misplaced to South Africa, Australia, and now England — in every case, from positions the place they appeared comfortably forward.
One of many underlying, unstated causes behind this downward spiral could be what might be referred to as the 80 per cent dedication downside — an inclination to do most issues proper, however fall brief within the ultimate push.
Within the final two matches, set batters have been dismissed taking part in free, drained photographs. Think about the sport towards Australia. Openers Pratika Rawal and Smriti Mandhana have been well-set, having added 155 runs between them.
However underneath the recent and humid situations in Vizag, each fell to poor aerial strokes — providing catches to Phoebe Litchfield and Ellyse Perry, respectively. Anybody watching might see it wasn’t one rash choice that undid them, however slightly the fatigue of our bodies continuously choosing the high-risk route — hoping, virtually wishfully, that the ball would both clear the ropes or land safely in somebody’s palms.
Towards England, an identical sample performed out. After Mandhana’s dismissalDeepti Sharma inexplicably selected to go aggressive although the required price was simply barely over a run-a-ball with 4 overs left within the recreation.
Her dismissal left two recent batters on the crease for the ultimate three overs — on a wicket that did not permit batters to easily stroll in and begin hitting.
The 80 P.c Downside
The Indian ladies’s group hasn’t been outplayed in a single match this event. They’ve had profitable positions — sturdy begins with the bat, dominant spells with the ball, tight fielding stretches — however in some way, the ultimate blow, the final act, is lacking. This isn’t a group fighting expertise or approach. The problem lies elsewhere — within the area between a very good efficiency and a match-winning one. As soon as, once more, to reiterate – the 80 p.c downside.
India is doing the onerous work. They’re getting set on the crease, constructing partnerships, and ticking off the fundamentals. However when the time comes to complete, to grind by way of fatigue and strain, to push that additional 20 per cent — the half that turns performances into wins — provides one thing.
It is a mixture of bodily exhaustion, psychological lapses, and perhaps even a creeping self-doubt in clutch moments. Whether or not it is a rash aerial shot when endurance is required, or a bowling spell that maybe wanted to be prolonged by the captain, the development has been constant: the group reaches the cusp of management, then lets it slips.
Towards England, it was Deepti Sharma who faltered. With simply over a run-a-ball wanted and the sport inside attain, she selected aggression over calculation and ended up throwing her wicket away. The end result? Two new batters on the crease with not sufficient time to settle — and the sport slipped once more.
It is the identical story — the job is 80 p.c performed, however that ultimate, decisive stretch is proving to be the toughest.
In elite sport, matches are sometimes determined in that final 20 p.c. The grit to remain switched on. The endurance to play the ready recreation. The braveness to belief your course of even when your muscle mass ache and your thoughts wanders.
Take a look at Alyssa Healy. After retaining wickets for 50 overs in Vizag, she got here out to bat and confronted 107 balls to attain a match-winning 142She did not flinch. She did not cease at 80 p.c. She went the space — as a result of that is what winners do.
If India wish to flip issues round, they need not change their recreation. They should end their recreation. That is the distinction proper now. Not expertise, not ways — simply tenacity.
Can the Fireplace Burn?
As India put together for his or her ultimate two group-stage matches, they are going to hope this pageant of lights helps flip a flicker right into a flame. All they want is one spark — a defining knock, a particular spell — one thing that lights the trail ahead.
If they’ll minimize down the errors and convey a bit of extra readability and management to the ultimate phases of their recreation, there isn’t a cause this group cannot make the ultimate of the event.
Because the nation celebrates Diwali, maybe it is time to mild a diya for the Indian ladies’s group — a group in determined want of hope, and looking for its mild.
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