By Ananya Upendran and Sidhanta Patnaik
Since being reinstated as India Women’s coach in July 2015, Purnima Rau has overseen a relatively consistent period where the team has won One-Day International series against New Zealand and Sri Lanka at home, and recorded a historic Twenty20 International series triumph in Australia. Having won five of their last six T20Is, India are one of the form teams ahead of the Women’s World T20 2016 beginning on March 15 at home. Rau spoke about the team’s preparation for the multi-nation event, among other things. Edited excerpts:
After the win in Australia, India have suddenly become one of the tournament favourites.
When we went to Australia, the girls knew who Meg Lanning and Ellyse Perry were and probably had a faint idea about the Australian wickets, but that was never at the back of their mind. They just went and played proper cricketing shots. In any format of the game you have to continue playing your cricketing shots. They played in the ‘V’, they exuded force, sweet timing and they actually bludgeoned [the Australians]. In a very soft way we got the opposition to get down on their knees. Basically, our team is full of stroke-players. They love the ball coming on to the bat, and I think there (in Australia), they took to it like fish take to water.
The fielding standard in the games against Australia was top class. What kind of work has gone in that department?
Honestly, not much work because I don’t have an assistant coach. But I have my trainer, Kavita (Pandya), who takes over. The lack of support staff has even helped the girls take more responsibility, they are willing to go that extra mile to stop that ball. There is a never-say-die attitude among them, which I am not able to explain how it has come. I guess basically now they have started dreaming big and that is what is allowing them to do what they are doing – in spite and despite of the facilities. Now they believe that they can be at the pinnacle and things are just unfolding for them.
How important was the interaction with Harbhajan Singh and Suresh Raina among others during the tour?
The dressing rooms were facing each other and we even shared a nets session. Raina bowled to Smriti Mandhana at the MCG. (Shikhar) Dhawan, (Ajinkya) Rahane even stopped and watched the nets because they were so impressed with the way the girls were playing. Raina even said that he watched the match, and this is what happened, and that is what we should have done. In fact, the boys were very enthusiastic about the girls. It’s great to see that kind of support.
In Hyderabad, you get that kind of support. Venkatapathy Raju has bowled to me and we have played with the Ranji boys, but to extend that culture to an Indian team is great. For these girls, getting that respect and admiration from the boys has really helped to take their game to another level.
Do you think the central contracts liberated the players before the Australia series?
Yes, that has made a lot of difference, it has freed them. Financially, if you are secure, you have no more cares, and become a maverick somewhere down the line. Also, the BCCI have got the Under-23 tournament started. At around the age of 23, we were losing girls to marriage or just not playing enough. Now with a tournament in place, at 23, they are mature enough and ready to catapult to the Indian level. The Under-16 too has been a great move by the BCCI. I think now [domestic] women’s cricket has its age-groups nicely catered to, and it’s now just a question of winning something big, winning something which you always know you can, and you deserve to.
I am not just looking at this World T20 or the 2017 World Cup. With the kind of talent and potential India have, we can assert our supremacy for the next three World Cups like the Australians have done. This is what the team should believe in.
Does it help that most of the players in the team are from Railways? They know each other and have developed an Australian type winning mentality over the years.
Yes, the Railways group is quite an intense bunch when it comes to domestic cricket. They would want to win at any cost and it helps that most of them are India players. There (domestic circuit) they are very serious, but when they come to the Indian team they are really a happy bunch, they are smiling a lot now, and I can see the bonhomie.
Has it helped that the selectors have shown consistency in picking the team?
I certainly agree with that. There has been real faith till now. From 2014 to now they have stuck with almost the same group of nine-ten core players and that has brought a lot of stability to the team and you can see it in the results. Nobody is bothered about whether they are going to be in or out because of the contracts and even the selection process.
What has been the biggest difference in the team since you first took charge in January 2014?
In 2014, when we met in Visakhapatnam (for the series against Sri Lanka), the only seed I planted in their heads was that they deserve the World Cup. “You girls are really good at it, and you really deserve it,” is what I told them. From then, I have been drilling it into them all the time. I never leave a moment. Whenever I say a few things, I use the words, ‘World Cup’ or ‘No.1’. Time and again, I drum it into their heads – that this (World Cup) is yours and that place (No.1) is yours.
I think this team doesn’t need instructions. I may share a few anecdotes with them, but I think they are a bunch of self-confident, assured and aggressive (girls). They have self-belief. Everyone, including the reserves, are enjoying each other’s success and are helping each other out. It’s a very relaxed atmosphere in the dressing room. I make sure that there is no one who is worked up at all. After all, it is a game and they have to enjoy it. This time will not come again for them, so I want them to savour every moment. It’s okay if we are 26 for 4 or 36 for 5 – don’t worry. That’s why XI play. We will have someone to fire it up for us.
How is your working relationship with Mithali Raj, who, like you, is also from Hyderabad?
Mithu is a very open captain. There are times when I give her some strategies or plans because I feel they should be followed in that match, and she laps it up easily. In fact, sometimes I might have reservations about what I am telling her, but she has innate faith in what I am saying and she immediately puts that (into practice) on the field. She loves challenges and she loves what the game throws up. She wants to be ready for that and knows it will never be smooth.
Our communication might not be so much back home in Hyderabad, but when we are working as a team, we think along the same lines. I may be animatedly communicating with gestures and all that, but she might be sitting there quietly, passive, but I know that she is aggressive. Also, the thing with Mithali and me is that we have shared the same coach, Sampath Kumar. She was a very young kid when I was at my prime. Maybe this might be the connection that binds us together, cricketing-wise.
To bring this team together, I think, having two legends, Jhulan (Goswami) and Mithali, in one team, and then having this bunch of young ones has really helped. Statistics-wise I think it is going to take a lot more for these kids to catch up with them, but personally I have, like a mother hen, brought them together. I have made sure that Jhulan spends a lot of time with the youngsters like Smriti (Mandhana). I throw them into those situations and make sure there is no gap or discrepancy or any issue that should keep them apart.
Unlike the men’s team, your backroom staff is very limited. How do you decentralise your responsibilities?
Basically, I am a very happy person, and as far as my support staff go, we want to be together. When your team management and captain are all together and saying the same things, that makes a lot of difference in the team also. I have a fantastic support staff. We go through videos with the analyst and make strategies, but finally cricket is a game where it doesn’t always happen according to your plans. You have to be aware of the situation on the field to change, and they (the support staff) bring in that to the team. I have been lucky to be part of this helpful support staff.
What are the areas the team needs to improve on?
They have matured a lot over the last two years, but inconsistency is still there. Which cricketer will not [be inconsistent]? It’s only Mithali who beats that. In a career you have ups and downs, but you battle it out. They have two legends to look up to, Jhulan and Mithali. Both have set high standards, and getting closer to them has really made a lot of difference in the team’s game also. These two girls have made an effort and come close to these kids, and that is making a lot of difference. Now, even without them, whoever has got opportunities has performed. That is the best thing about this team.
What has been your funniest memory with this team?
In my dressing room I have organised song and dance. I want the team to dance every time and I want them to listen to music. There are a few players who don’t match the rhythm (when they dance), but they are trying their best. Jhulan has not improved in the past 20 years, but she is still there dancing away. Total hilarious coordination you know, but it’s nice to see that she is still working at being a good dancer.
Who is the choreographer of the team?
There are few people who they follow, like Veda (Krishnamurthy), Harman or Sushma Verma – these are the enthusiastic ones. The result of the match doesn’t matter. My dressing room is very happy and very relaxed.
Would you say India are in a relatively easier group, considering Australia and New Zealand are in the other group?
I wouldn’t take even Pakistan and Bangladesh lightly. It’s a T20 game; on their day a team could be extremely good and I wouldn’t want to take that. I want my team to play to the best of their capacity and ability, keep their basics right, and just play with a fearless attitude. Even if they are 60 all out, I know this Indian team will get them (the opposition) 58 all out. I want them to play unhindered cricket, basically cricket that they enjoy every moment.
After the 2011 World Cup win, Mahendra Singh Dhoni said the team was zoned out because they were so consumed by their target. Do you think your team is also as consumed as that?
I don’t think consumed would be the right word to use here, but I know that they are ready. I have also told them that for this World Cup, there will be home pressure. There will also be pressure because we have won in the lead up to the World Cup. There will be personal pressure as well. There may be days when you may not do well, I don’t know who that may be, but if you are doing well on a particular day, I want you to put in that 25-30% more so that you can compensate for another player. I think now they are in that zone where they can pull the other person up. When the light is on any actor, he enjoys that light, and that is what they have to do. If they get the bat in the hand just stay for a longer time and enjoy it because miracles happen when you enjoy the game. I can promise you one thing, I don’t know about the result, but they are going to run this race with hands together; we are going to cross the line together.
First published in Wisden India.