When there was constant criticism, Harman and Smriti kept the team together: Neetu David

New Delhi, Nov 3 (PTI) Neetu David could not have wished for a better finish to her five year tenure as a chief selector of the Indian women's cricket team, having witnessed numerous heartbreaks on the big stage before Harmanpreet Kaur and Co finally cracked the winning code in world events on a steamy Sunday night.

A new selection panel was recently appointed but it was David and her team that picked the squad for the ODI World Cup at home.

Despite all the resources at their disposal, India's wait for an elusive world title kept getting longer with defeats from winning positions becoming the norm in ICC events.

Senior players including Harmanpreet, Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues were heavily criticised for their inability to land the killer punch. Reversing that dubious trend in front of the home crowd was stuff of the fairytale and with the perfect blend of luck and pluck, the trophy was finally won.

Speaking to PTI after the pathbreaking result in Navi Mumbai, ICC Hall of Famer and former India spinner David listed out the reasons why India were able to go all the way this time after years of disappointment.

Q. It was a journey full of ups and downs, how would you sum it up? A. This team was criticised a lot, coaches came and went, a lot of ups and downs. People were saying they keep losing when BCCI is doing everything for them, they said they are losing to Australia all the time. But the senior players played a major role (Harman, Smriti, Jemi, Deepti) in keeping the unit together.

When Amol Mujumdar came as head coach (in October 2023), his vision was simple. It was now or never. The hard work of girls and support staff over the past 18 months have seen it myself in camps, it is for all to see now.

They took team bonding took the next level and found a perfect blend of senior and junior, reminding me of Sourav Ganguly's days as captain when he blooded in the youngsters and backed them to the hilt. Shree Charani, Kranti Goud, Pratika Rawal, they were very well supported by the seniors.

Q. How did the senior players deal with the constant criticism after painful losses in one ICC event after the other? A. You do feel hurt when you are criticised but they (Harman, Smriti, Jemi, Deepti) took it positively, if they would have become negative then probably they would not have bounced back. The result is in front you. To perform in a high pressure environment at home, the girls handled the pressure really well.

It was not a fluke, we beat Australia and South Africa, we needed improvement in all three departments especially fielding, we showed that. Bowing coach Avishkar Salvi efforts also stand out. Strength and Conditioning coach Harsha came in and has done a brilliant job.

Amol worked tirelessly with the girls and had individual batting sessions with every member of the team. He looks calm but is very aggressive.

Q. Youngsters like Goud, Charani and Pratika made a big impact on the World Cup campaign and it was not long ago that they made their international debut. How would you rate their performance? A. When Renuka Singh and Pooja Vastrakar were not there due to injuries, we were worried about the pace attack. We found Kranti, the fire in her to excel is amazing. She is very mature for her age. She wanted a slip in the Pakistan game and soon after she got the wicket. She is very focussed.

Pratika has been a great find for the Indian team. Amanjot Kaur too has made a big impact as an all-rounder. After this win, I would say future is brightest for women's cricket in India. You will see plenty of talent coming through.

Q. How should we plan for the next World Cup and build on the legacy created last night? Harmanpreet Kaur has been leading India (first T20 and then ODIs) for close to a decade. Is it now time for a change of guard? "The new selectors and management will decide on future leadership. I have always believed India are the only team that can dominate Australia, I have believed we have an upper hand in the longer version of the game (ODI and Test), as technically we are very good. What we would need is a bigger pool of fast bowlers and focus more on leg spinners. We need a pool of at least 10 pacers as they tend to get injured often, we should have adequate back up and we have worked on that.

"Batting, we have lot of options in domestic cricket, there is no concern on that front. U15 girls and u19 girls are coming through very nicely, they know what they need to do excel at the highest level. PTI BS KHS KHS