‘Australia will not give you a second chance, seize the key moments, create opportunities’: Anjum Chopra’s advice to India for World Cup semis

Can the Indian women’s cricket team win the 2025 ODI World Cup title? If that does happen, it will not only mark a huge watershed moment, it will be a massive indicator of growth – both skill-wise and in confidence – for Indian women’s cricket. But Harmanpreet Kaur and Co will know that despite the fact that they are in the semi-finals, things could have very easily been very different for them. India lost three back-to-back matches and had a no-result game against Bangladesh. If it wasn’t for the win against New Zealand, the co-hosts would have been knocked out in the league stage itself. All of the other three semi-finalists beat India.

Needless to say, there are quite a few things that the Indian team management will know they need to work on and many a chink in their armour that needs to be fixed, especially considering their semi-final clash is against the mighty Aussies – the most successful team in the history of the competition, with as many as seven titles and the only undefeated side in this edition of the World Cup, so far.

There have been quite a few things that have gone India’s way of course, individual players who have stepped up to the plate and delivered. The top two run-getter so far in the tournament are the two Indian openers, Deepti Sharma is the joint-highest wicket-taker so far and India are still in with a chance to win their maiden World Cup title.

But what are the big lessons the team would have learnt and should incorporate in their battle plans against the Aussies in the semi-final in Mumbai this coming Thursday? What do they need to do to beat the only undefeated team in the competition and if that happens do the women in blue become the title favourites? What do the individual performances from key players like Deepti Sharma, Smriti Mandhana and Pratika Rawal say about where their game stands currently, what has Harmanpreet Kaur’s captaincy been like and what is the legacy that the legendary Sophie Devine, who retired from ODI cricket after New Zealand’s campaign came to an end in this World Cup, leaves behind?

To talk about all this and more, we caught up with former India captain and now commentator Anjum Chopra, who follows the women’s game in India very, very closely and is a senior player all Indian cricketers look up to. Anjum, who played 12 Tests, 127 ODIs and 18 T20is for India, scoring over 3500 international runs, in an exclusive interview, gave her honest take on the brand of cricket Team India has been playing so far in this edition of the World Cup, as we count down to the big second semi-final between India and Australia at the DY Patil stadium on October 30.

Let’s look ahead before we look back. First, keeping our fingers crossed that rain stays away because there is a forecast for rain in both Mumbai and Guwahati – the two semi-final venues. Going by what you’ve seen of the Indian team in this World Cup so far, would you say that despite the fact that they lost their matches against each of the other semi-finalists, a win in the semi-final against the Aussies could make them title favourites, perhaps?

Anjum: Yes, and no. Yes, because when you beat a current world champion side your stakes rise very quickly. Expectations will go up. And no, because just because you have beaten the world champions, considering they do, there is still a World Cup to be won, there is still a team on the other side which you have to beat. That team has also walked the same path as you and reached the final. In the final, what kind of form you are going in with doesn’t matter. In the final, both teams are equal contenders. It doesn’t matter whether you have beaten x, y, z team in the league stage or not, when you are in a final, it’s another contest that has to be won. A final is a 50-50 game and it’s anyone’s game on that particular day.

Australia are the only unbeaten team in the tournament so far. What will it take, apart from immense self-belief and confidence of course, to beat them? Which are the areas you would have liked to focus on, if you were the coach of the Indian team?

Anjum: If I had to target the Australian batting line-up, I would like to focus on the areas in which I feel the opposition is weak. Whether it is in the spin department, whether it is in areas where individual batters like to play their shots or prefer to hit out against a certain bowler. I would look at those match-ups and strengthen those areas. I would plan for the entire 40-50 overs and keep two to three plans ready and not go with a plan on the spur of the moment on the field. I would have well-defined plans. When you are up against a team like Australia you know that there are no margins of error that they would allow, especially in a must-win contest. So, you will not have a second chance. You have to seize the moment and sometimes create those opportunities for yourself. I would break down the 100 overs into small markers.

The way India have been playing is – 5 overs of spin, 5 overs of pace. I would want to break it down and try to put my resources to the optimum use. Go with the plan that has worked for you. If it doesn’t work, that is not in your control, but at least give it your best shot.

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Since you talked about spin, have Team India, according to you, managed to take full advantage of the home conditions, so far in this tournament? Or is that something that in your opinion doesn’t really matter much, since most teams now know the Indian and overall subcontinental conditions well?

Anjum: See to be able to utilise conditions well, you need to have ability, skill and the acumen to handle it. The acumen you can source from outside, but the ability and skill have to be yours and you have to showcase it. Because India has some experienced players, they understand the conditions, they understand their ability vis-à-vis the opposition’s. But largely, especially in the bowling department, the Indian team is slightly inexperienced. It’s individual skill meeting team skill that is producing the product. It’s not individual brilliance, like we have seen Australia showcase or England, in patches or we saw from someone like Sophie Devine, in the New Zealand setup. There has been no individual brilliance in the bowling department. We haven’t seen someone take a 5-wicket haul and run away with the match or turned the match on its head. It’s not like they can’t use the conditions, but they are not very well-versed with them. Someone like Charani is new to the block. She is skillfull and has done really well, but she is very new. Amanjot Kaur has been in and out of the side, Renuka (Singh) has been in and out of the side, she is also coming out of an injury. So, that leaves only Sneh (Rana) and Deepti (Sharma). They have done well, they are the two (really) experienced campaigners – at the domestic and international levels. So, most responsibilities fall on them.

Now, let’s look at the batting – people who know the home conditions have been struggling. You need to first be in form to take advantage of home conditions. The Indian team is collectively coming back into form. Individually they have shown form (in the batting department), but because certain results didn’t go their way, again there were question marks. So, it’s not like – it’s a home World Cup, like it was in 2023 for the men’s team. We (the women’s team) are still getting there, it’s still a work-in-progress team. It’s a good team, but still a work in progress. There are still too many moving parts, rather than a settled, well-gelled unit that says – ‘we are one force, moving in one direction’.

Was there a time during this tournament, especially after the three back-to-back losses, that you felt that Team India perhaps couldn’t be able to make the semis, or were you confident they would make the last four cut?

Anjum: I was quite confident that they (Team India) would get the better of New Zealand and Bangladesh. The New Zealand team – the number of matches they have played, their form or rather the lack of form was a big factor that I was considering. But even then, it wasn’t like just because 300 plus runs were on the board, it was a safe total (India made 340/3 in 49 overs). I thought India were 30-40 runs short. Had the game gone the full 50 overs (New Zealand’s target was 325 in 44 overs, India won by 53 runs by the DLS method), India would have been challenged. But I pretty much thought that they would make it to the semi-finals. Even if India lost against New Zealand, they still had the match against Bangladesh. But in hindsight it was a good thing it didn’t come to that match, because then they would have been out of the tournament (the India vs Bangladesh match was called off due to rain, with the two teams splitting points).

Let’s talk about individual players now. We had talked about how Smriti Mandhana hadn’t performed well in World Cups traditionally. This time, would you say she has redeemed herself? She is currently the top run-getter with 365 runs at an average of 61…

Anjum: She has obviously done well, but I would not say that she has redeemed herself. The kind of innings that I have seen her play in the past have been far more dominating, consistent and authoritative than what we have seen here, even the century (109 vs New Zealand). Her catch was dropped in the last game against Bangladesh. She was almost back to the pavilion after taking a review that showed an inside edge (vs New Zealand when she was batting on 77). She was exhausted. Nobody says that you have to have a chanceless hundred. Nobody remembers these things ten years down the line. It’s good to see that she is doing well which proves to herself that she belongs at this level and that she is a quality cricketer.

But because we set high standards and high benchmarks for ourselves and Smriti would be setting the same high standards for herself too. The opportunities that she had where she missed out, she would want to course correct that. We are still in fourth place, we have sneaked in (to the semi-finals). If I was Smriti I would say – ‘yes, I have done well, but I can do better. I can get back to my best’ – which was in the 3-game series, prior to the World Cup. That was the best that I have seen her bat. And she is getting there.

The top two run-getters so far in this World Cup are the two Indian openers. A word on Pratika Rawal and your take on this opening partnership and what’s working for it, apart from of course the right-left hand combination…

Anjum: Pratika has played her part really well in the (opening) partnership. For me, it’s not that Shafali (Verma) at the top, with Smriti was not working or was not good. They (Shafali and Pratika) are two different people. The kind of impact that Shafali can make or does make when she is in full flow is unmatched. That is top-notch. But if she doesn’t make that impact then where are we? Because Pratika started scoring from game number one there is no question mark over the opening partnership (Pratika has so far scored 308 runs in 6 innings). There is more surety, more balance. And I say that because that’s how Indian cricket has been played. It has not been played in the template of say the Kaluwitharana-Jayasuriya partnership (1996 men’s ODI World Cup) – 10 overs, 150 on the board for Sri Lanka. We haven’t reached there yet, we would want to. Tomorrow you never know we might have Shafali opening with Pratika, with Smriti walking in at number three. The partnership between Shafali and Smriti didn’t flourish and this partnership (between Smriti and Pratika) has been consistent.

Having said that, Pratika made her (ODI) debut against the West Indies, who don’t have a very consistent bowling attack. But that’s not her fault. But how she has adapted to international cricket, how she has remained consistent has made an impact and has helped Pratika grow into this role of an opener. Now, when she is up against top-notch, world champion sides, she understands herself and the scenarios much better. And that is reflecting on the partnership. She has brought calmness and solidity at the other end. Smriti also, I am sure, is also comfortable with the fact that she is not the only one scoring or handling things, so she can just be herself in that partnership, while the other person at the other end is doing her bit. That calmness and (the luxury of being able to) play in their own individual zones has worked for them.

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You have always praised Deepti Sharma. She is once again one of the stand-out performers – the joint-highest wicket taker so far with 15 wickets, along with Australia’s Anabel Sutherland. Your take on how Harman has used Deepti as a strike bowler and her overall performance with the ball so far in this World Cup…

Anjum: I think she (Deepti) is very much useful and aggressive and impactful when she is used earlier. In this World Cup, till now, I think she has been given the ball in the powerplay only once – against Bangladesh and straightaway she made an impact. Harman has played a lot of cricket with Deepti, she has seen Deepti grow through the years, so she knows what she can get out of Deepti and Deepti also knows her own skill level.

For a finger-spinner to keep evolving and to keep raising the bar – credit to her (Deepti). It’s never easy. Whatever varieties and variations she has brought in, they are working for her. That credit I will always give Deepti. Once she comes into the set-up – whether with the bat, ball or on the field (as a fielder) she is a big contributor and a match-winner.

A word on Harman’s captaincy. As a former captain yourself, how would you rate the skipper’s strategies, bowling changes etc in the World Cup this time?

Anjum: Pretty good, I would say. Again she (Harmanpreet Kaur) doesn’t have a lot of (bowling) options to choose from. There is no luxury of throwing the ball to someone who you might feel is more suitable in that scenario. It’s just those five bowlers and when you are rotating them you eventually can’t get the combination wrong, as such, because you don’t have anybody else. It’s not that I haven’t seen anything new, it also depends on what the bowler is doing. But at the end of the day things can always become better. It’s not that they have not been good. They have been very good. Her (Harmanpreet’s) captaincy, her aggression and her defence- the way she has worked out things, the way she has tried to stay ahead of the competition – she has done all that and she has done that very nicely. It’s also about the bowlers, about the individuals – how they are seeing things. So, if she says to Deepti – ‘I want a fielder at short fine leg’ and Deepti says – ‘no, I don’t want anybody there, I want a fielder at deep square leg’. But then she bowls a fast one on a middle and leg stump line, the ball will go to short fine leg. There are certain scenarios where the captain is reliant on what the bowler is doing or thinking. That can make the captain look either good or bad. But as an individual, how she (Harmanpreet) has tried to remain ahead of the competition – that has been pretty good from what I have seen of her.

Going into the semi-finals, when the team does a bit of post-mortem and draws up their strategies, what would you say are some of the biggest lessons they should learn from the three losses they have suffered so far in the tournament. All three teams they lost to are in the semis and if they beat Australia in the semis, they will once again be up against a team they lost to earlier, in the final…

Anjum: That they shouldn’t be complacent or relax for even a brief moment in that contest. I had asked a few people (earlier) – ‘did you relax?’ and they said – ‘no, no, nothing like that’. But there are certain cues that we can read. In the game against South Africa, after having dismissed the openers, when they were five down, it was almost like they were waiting for a mistake to happen. Mistakes did happen – not once but thrice, but the Indian team was not alert enough to grab those chances. Before they realised what had happened, someone came in, smashed the bowlers around the park and the game was gone. So, why did they not seize those moments? Why was the field not alert to the opportunities that came their way? In the game against England, they should have been more aware of how a game should be finished. The equation was not 60 needed off 30, it was a run-a-ball. They had put in the hard yards of putting the opposition in a tough spot, but the pressure got to them and it was pressure that was self-generated, it didn’t come from anyone else. Why should you make a mistake when you are so experienced?

There are certain areas that they need to look at. Obviously, we are looking at things from the outside, but the big lessons should be - don’t be complacent, don’t leave it for anyone else and don’t take anything lightly. It’s not that Bangladesh will succumb to you and you will succumb to Australia – no.  In fact, Bangladesh’s case should be a big lesson for all teams, especially for India. They (Bangladesh) could have qualified for the semi-finals. Against South Africa, they dropped a couple of catches, even in the last over and the game was gone (South Africa won that match by just 3 wickets). The game against England – they should have won that contest – if that little bit of confusion didn’t happen from the umpires’ perspective (England’s Heather Knight got three reprieves thanks to the umpiring and later said – “I’ve never been out so many times in a cricket match”). They (Bangladesh) should have won that contest (England won that match by 4 wickets). In the game against Sri Lanka – last over, 8 runs needed and they lost the match in that last over.

Exactly what India did against England is what Bangladesh did against Sri Lanka. If Bangladesh had won those games, they would have had six more points. People say Bangladesh spinners are very good, they also say that the Indian team is excellent. Yes, they are, but one can’t succumb to scenarios and situations and take the foot off the pedal. Keep up the intensity and make the momentum keep going in your favour.

And finally, a word on Sophie Devine who announced her ODI retirement recently. Arguably New Zealand’s all-time greatest player, one would say. New Zealand couldn’t make the cut for the semis, but what a career it has been for her – finished as the White Ferns’ highest run-getter in this World Cup. Finished her career with over 4000 ODI runs and 111 wickets. Your take on the impact she had on the One Day game and the legacy she is leaving behind…

Anjum: She has obviously been a match-winner. Whenever I think of Sophie as a cricketer, the first thought that comes to my mind is – ‘she is a match-winner’. She is a complete all-rounder. She is an astute leader, has been a skill-full batter, a very good bowler, a good fielder. I would want a player like her to be on my team. To have such a long career (Devine made her ODI debut in 2006) and the legacy she has left behind. With players like Suzie Bates around her, Amelia Kerr, who has been around for almost a decade (made her international debut in 2016), players like (Eden) Carson (24-year-old spinner) and Isabella Gaze (21-year-old wicket-keeper-batter), who is just coming through, they have grown up looking at her (Devine) and they have been fortunate to have played alongside her. What she (Devine) leaves behind is a very strong influence on the women’s game overall and in particular in New Zealand cricket, which will go a long, long way in helping in the development of the women’s game globally and of course in New Zealand.