Head coach Amol Muzumdar admitted that India did not play well in the final of the recently-concluded Women’s T20 Asia Cup 2024. The Harmanpreet Kaur-led side suffered a shock eight-wicket defeat against the hosts in the title decider on Sunday (July 28) in Dambulla.
Batting first, India posted a competitive total of 165 for 6 in the allotted 20 overs. Star opener Smriti Mandhana led the team’s charge with the bat again, scoring 60 runs off 47 balls with the help of 10 fours. Richa Ghosh (30 off 14) and Jemimah Rodrigues (29 off 16) also played useful knocks with the bat as India posted a total of over 160.
However, the score was not enough for the Indian women’s team to defend the title as the bowlers failed to put up a match-winning effort. Sri Lanka cruised to the total with ease. They crossed the finishing line in the 19th over losing just two wickets.
Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu led the match and scored 61, while Harshitha Samarawickrama scored an unbeaten 69 to propel her team to a historic win. Kavisha Dilhari also played a crucial knock of 30 not out off 16 balls.
We didn’t play well: Amol Muzumdar
Following the loss in the final, Amol Muzumdar did not mince his words and admitted that his team did not play to its full potential. He claimed that the team failed to execute its plans. Mazumdar also pointed out that India has been performing well in the recent times and just failed to do so in one match. At the same time, he also made sure to give credit to Sri Lanka for their excellent performance.
“Well, actually, to be honest, in one match we didn’t play well; we didn’t execute as we expected. But that’s all. We have been dominating throughout the last series against South Africa and this tournament as well.
“I think in a strange game we didn’t play to our full potential but the credit should go to who it’s supposed to go to and I think Sri Lanka batted really well. I think 165 was a really good total but I think Sri Lanka batted really well. They started on the right foot and we couldn’t take advantage of the opportunities we had. But at the same time, the credit should go to Sri Lanka for batting really well,” Amol Muzumdar told Star Sports.
“I think we’ve shown great character in all three departments. Our batting has been good over the last two months; we’ve seen that the batting has been really good.”
“The bowlers have done their job; they have been fantastic in the tournament and against South Africa also, the bowlers did wonders there. And we are progressively moving forward in our fielding department as well. We made a few mistakes today but I am confident that we are on the right track as far as fielding is concerned,” added Amol Muzumdar.
Although the Indian team lost the final, they remain the most successful team in the history of the Women’s Asian Cup. India has won 6 of the 8 editions of the tournament so far. They won the first six editions of the competition before losing the final to Bangladesh in the seventh edition in 2018. In 2022, India regained the trophy with a win over Sri Lanka in the final before losing the last final.