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As the Indian Women’s team under Harmanpreet Kaur defeated Alyssa Healy’s Australia Women in the one-off Test at Wankhede yesterday, the entire Indian cricketing fraternity congratulated the team for their excellent performance as it was their 2nd consecutive Test win at home which came days after India’s 347-run victory over England. Former Indian captain Mithali Raj also praised team India.
However, on that special occasion, 2 former Indian Women’s team captains, Anjum Chopra and Mithali Raj got involved in an unhealthy war of words on Social media. It happened right after Smriti Mandhana scored the winning runs from her bat to hand Australia an 8-wicket defeat.
Mithali Raj certainly paved the way for today’s Test win #INDvAUS
▶️ https://t.co/uaFLxAnKj5 pic.twitter.com/Jg635kGfIA
— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) December 24, 2023
This particular win was special for a lot of reasons. Firstly, it was India’s back-to-back 2nd Test win on home soil, secondly, it was the first time that India was able to beat Australia in a Test match and third (the most important one), the Indian Women’s team became the first team since 2013/14 to beat Australia women’s in a Test series as England were the last to beat them during that year’s Women’s Ashes series.
This particular victory could act as a catalyst for success for the Indian team moving forward. Alyssa Healy after winning the toss, elected to bat first at Navi Mumbai. The opening pair of Jemimah Rodrigues and Phoebe Litchfield did not last long as the latter was run out by Jemimah Rodrigues in the last ball of the very first over without even facing a ball.
Number 3 Ellyse Perry was also removed from the crease soon for just 4 runs by Pooja Vastrakar and it gave India a dreamy start to the one-off Test. Then number 4 Tahlia McGrath steadied things for Australia, scoring a hard-earned half-century before falling prey to Sneh Rana’s left arm off-spin.
Beth Mooney also departed very soon for 40 and Captain Alyssa Healy also got out for 38 with the following batters, Annabel Sutherland, Ashleigh Gardner, Jess Jonassen, Alana King, Kim Garth, and Lauren Cheatle scoring a combined 85 runs to help Australia set up a first-inning total of 219.
In the 2nd innings, Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana stood for a 90-run opening partnership before the former got caught before the stumps by Jess Jonassen’s straight delivery for 40. Mandhana departed after scoring 74 with Richa Ghosh and Jemimah Rodrigues playing delivering knocks of 52 and 73 before Deepti Sharma and Pooja Vastrakar took over and scored 78 and 47 to help India post 406.
In the 3rd innings, Australia started well and it was starting to look as if they were slowly making their way back into the game. Mooney and Litchfield added 49 runs before the former was run out by Richa Ghosh and the latter was bowled over by Sneh Rana.
Ellyse Perry (45) and Tahlia McGrath (73) tried to stage a comeback but both of them failed to convert their head starts into something big. Later on Healy and Sutherland tried to keep Australia in the game but Sneh Rana’s 4-wickets, Rajeshwari Gaikwad and Harmanpreet Kaur’s brace of wickets, and Pooja Vastrakar’s sole wicket got Australia all out for 261 to set up a very easy target of 75.
After losing Shafali Verma very early, Mandhana and Richa Ghosh initiated the chase but Ghosh was out for 13 in the 16th over. But Jemimah Rodrigues’ 12 runs and Mandhana’s 38 were enough to seal a memorable one-sided victory for the Indian Women’s team.
Anjum Chopra Asks Publication Why Was Mithali Raj Credited for Indian Women’s Team win?
Soon after the Indian Women’s team won, congratulatory posts unfurled on social media with Mithali Raj also writing in appreciation for the Indian team on X, “HUGE CONGRATULATIONS TO TEAM INDIA on beating Australia for the first time in Women’s Tests! @Vastrakarp25 & @SnehRana15 were immaculate with the ball, and the batting unit rallied around to record this historic triumph. Two Test victories on the trot, well played.” – Mithali Raj wrote.
It was then reposted by ESPNCricinfo with a headline that credited Mithali Raj for the victory. “Mithali Raj certainly paved the way for today’s test win.”
Things got even more interesting when another former Indian captain Anjum Chopra commented on ESPN’s post, simply asking the publication, “How?”
How ? is for the headline 🙂 @ESPNcricinfo
— Anjum Chopra (@chopraanjum) December 24, 2023
And rightfully so even from a fan’s perspective, how did Mithali Raj alone pave the way for India’s victory just because she played with the current set of players? And even if she had played a role, why was Anjum Chopra offended? Is there any internal dispute going on between the Two?
But regardless of it, the Indian Women’s team will return to action for a 3-match ODI series against Australia, starting from 28th December.
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