SYDNEY (Australia): Poonam Yadav lit up the opening match of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2020 on Friday, but the Indian leg spinner was a doubtful starter for the tournament with a fractured finger.
Injured during a pre-tournament camp, Poonam’s place was thrown into doubt, needing to start again to get ready for Australia.
“I did not know myself it would turn out to be this bad,” she said. “After the injury I focused on the diet and on fitness,” Poonam told ICC-Cricket.com.
She also missed the preparatory tri-series, but with the way she bamboozled Australia so comprehensively in the tournament opener, her absence may have been a blessing rather than a curse.
“I was confident I could bowl at any time. Raman Sir (WV Raman, India head coach) asked if I was mentally ready. I told him mentally I was, but it was also necessary for me to be physically prepared. Within myself I had the belief I would make the comeback in time. The good thing is I got hurt about one-and-a-half months before the World Cup,” she added.
Yadav didn’t bowl until ninth over
With Australia cruising at 58 for two, Yadav was introduced in the ninth over as India captain Harmanpreet Kaur held her back as long as possible.
Alyssa Healy, back to form with 51, took a liking to the leg-spinner’s full-toss but next ball she perished, a 63kph leg-break punched back to the bowler.
Even then, 66 required off the final 10 with seven wickets in hand, Australia looked comfortable and assured.
India’s leading WT20I wicket-taker deceived Rachael Haynes in flight to be stumped before Ellyse Perry was duped by a wrong’un, bowled first ball.
Had the ball stuck in Tanya Bhatia’s hand then the leg-spinner would have had a quite wonderful hat-trick, but no matter.
Jess Jonassen was the fourth and final victim, a thin edge seeing Bhatia atone, with the pain Yadav felt on a fully-bandaged finger replaced solely by adrenaline.
With a small stature and desire to float the ball high, Yadav’s style is not a replicable one in the women’s game – with Healy admitting that while Australia had preparation, they lacked execution.
“She bowled that first over pretty regulation as a leg-spinner and then slowed it up immensely after that, so we probably just didn’t adapt to that well enough,” she said.
