"The emphasis now should be on domestic cricket's standard and fielding as well": Former India cricketer Gargi Banerjee

Another disappointment for all the Indian fans as India bows out to South Africa in the last match of the Women's World Cup 2022. A "no-ball" by Deepti Sharma helped the South African team defeat India in the last ball of the league phase.

However, that was not the only thing that prevented India from going to the next round of the World Cup. Former India cricketer and former Chairman of selection committee BCCI, Gargi Banerjee gives us a summary of what went wrong with the Indian team and what they should focus on to win the next world cup.

What went wrong?

"The bowling let us down," she started the interview by saying with disappointment in her voice. "Except Jhulan (Goswami), not a single bowler had the discipline and consistency," she added.

"The batters were very good except for the England match. Everyone in the top four performed, our bowlers needed to perform in the crunch situations. We missed Jhulan in the last match. It could have been different if we had Jhulan there in the team."

In the spinning department, Rajeshwari Gayakwad was the senior-most candidate in the team. However, she failed to perform under pressure when a lot was expected from her. Sneh Rana was good in bits and pieces. But there is a lot that needed to be done with her. In that aspect, the selectors will have to look for fresh faces in the spin and medium-pace bowling department.

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"BCCI will have to set specialised left-arm and off-spinners' camp to find new fresh talents from all over India. Even we will need pace bowling camps as well," Gargi Banerjee added.

"Need to raise the standard of our domestic tournaments": Gargi Banerjee

With everything being said on what was not up to the mark in the World Cup, now the question arises of what India needs to do to win the next one. MS Dhoni after winning the 2007 T20 World Cup stated, "If we need to win the 2011 ODI world cup, we will have to start planning from today." Gargi Banerjee feels the same way as the former India captain. But how?

"First of all, we will need to raise the standard of our domestic tournaments. The level of competition needs to be raised," she answered.

"Railways have a pool of Indian cricketers and that makes them one of the strongest. There are two or three other teams that are doing well as well. But the percentage needs to grow. There can not be only three-four good teams out of 29 states.

Gargi Banerjee

"It is high time we set up specialised camps for the players who are doing well at the domestic level. We need to nurture them and turn them into tough individuals who are willing to do everything for our country," the former Indian cricketer sounded ambitious while explaining everything that needed to be done.

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"Fielding and fitness that need to get better at first": Gargi Banerjee

This is all that the state association and BCCI should look to implement to make a bench for the Indian Women's team to win high-level matches. But, what the players should do?

"Every player should have the ambition to represent the country and win that World Cup. At the state level, the players need to be more professional. You can not just turn up before the tournaments and play matches. Each and every player must do fitness training and look after their routines throughout their off-season. State associations should track their progress as well," she answered.

"I have seen Jhulan doing her fitness training every day. That is what made her capable of playing for so long. The state players need to have the same hunger as Jhulan," she added.

With all the focus on batting and bowling, Gargi Banerjee feels it is the fielding and fitness that need to get better at first. "Our bowlers (except Jhulan) are bowling four good balls and then bowling two bad ones. It is because they lack the stamina and fitness to hold their mental balance. So, at first, we need to get better at our fitness level."

She thinks that the addition of quality trainers can enhance the fitness level of every player across the domestic circuit. "There should be mandatory fitness camps throughout the season for all the domestic and Indian players. This will bring a more professional look into our setup" she added.

Now with Mithali and Jhulan's careers nearly coming to an end, the team management will have to dig deep to find and fill the void created by those two legends. "You can not have another Jhulan or Mithali. Let's not hope for that. What we can do is set up specialised camps and groom some young talents to fill those gaps in playing eleven."

The next captain?

As per the reports, Smriti Mandhana will be the one to lead the team in absence of Mithali Raj. "Smriti will surely be a good leader. But we will have to look after her work pressure as well. Harmanpreet is also there who can lead the team as well."

Although with all the disappointments, she feels "India tried their best and will have to learn from their mistake. They tried hard and this will be a learning lesson for all younger faces in the team."