Can the Indian women’s cricket team stop Australia’s winning spree?

There has been a lot of buzz surrounding the Australian Women’s cricket team over the past one week; and with all that has been happening in the field, I would say, the excitement levels are quite lesser than what it should ideally be. The Southern Stars, yesterday, equaled the world record set by their male counterparts for most consecutive wins in ODIs by registering their 21^st win in as many matches.

21 CONSECUTIVE ODI WINS! This is no mean feat. The world record winning streak for the Australian Men’s team lasted for just 133 days while the women have been unbeaten for the past 941 days and counting. As former India cricketer Snehal Pradhan wrote in her column for Hindustan Times, “This isn’t a dominant sports team. It’s an all-conquering empire on the march.”

This winning spree doesn’t really come as a surprise when you dig into the stats as the next two positions in the list of most consecutive wins in women’s ODIs are also proudly held by the women from down under. But who takes up the position after the Australians? It’s the Women in Blue, India, with 16 consecutive wins.

Yes! The Australian women's cricket team now shares this world record with Ricky Ponting's legendary 2003 men's national side.

It also shows this team is one of the best sporting sides Australia has seen, ever.https://t.co/oFjgJTG4gj

— Women's Agenda (@WomensAgenda) October 7, 2020

This laudable feat from the Indian women goes largely unnoticed, probably because they achieved this before the 2017 World Cup which led to women’s cricket explosion in the country. India’s winning run started from February 2016 against Australia in Hobart and continued till May 2017 when they lost to South Africa in a quadrangular series at Potchefstroom by mere eight runs. Apart from Australia, India beat teams like Sri Lanka, West Indies, Bangladesh, Ireland, Pakistan and South Africa during this period.

A major credit for Australia unparalleled success comes from the fact that they have a very strong domestic circuit for women’s cricket, something which other teams, including India, seems to be lacking. And with the coronavirus pandemic women’s cricket in India has taken a further hit with their tour to England cancelled. Though there have been murmurs about the Women’s T20 challenge to be held alongside IPL playoffs in UAE during November, there is no surety.

The situation for women’s cricket in India looks quite grim at the moment with even ODI captain Mithali Raj admitting a sense of “anxiety” and “lack of purpose” during an interview with ESPNCricinfo.

Whatever the situation be, the fact remains that India has one of the strongest teams in the world, a claim which is definitely backed-up by their performances in all the recent ICC tournaments. They have got a very balanced squad with a perfect mix of both youth and experience and are capable of defeating the best in the world.

With the Australian team’s next international assignment not until India tour them in January 2021; it would be no surprise if the Women in Blue are the one to end this mad winning spree of the Southern Stars which, to be honest, started with a win against them.