'India Women got a wake-up call' - Ex-cricketer blasts Harmanpreet Kaur & Co. for losing Asia Cup final

Former India Women's cricketer Anjum Chopra lashed out at the Harmanpreet Kaur-led side for losing against Sri Lanka in the final of the Asia Cup 2024. She said that it was a good wake-up call for the team ahead of the T20 World Cup 2024, set to be played later this year.

India Women's National Cricket Team had a tough outing in the final of the Asia Cup 2024. The Harmanpreet Kaur-led side looked clueless with the bat and ball in the summit clash as the Sri Lanka Women's National Cricket Team went on to crush them and win their first-ever title.

India Women in a couple of months will be playing in the T20 World Cup 2024. However, the loss in the final of the Asia Cup final has raised quite a few eyebrows. The Women in Blue have come under serious scanner too after their poor performances in the final against the Sri Lanka Women's National Cricket Team.

The Harmanpreet Kaur-led side also have struggled to get going in the past few series. They lost to England and Australia and going into the World Cup, it won't be easy for them as other teams have been sensational in the shortest format of the game.

Anjum Chopra while talking about the Asia Cup final loss of India Women, stated that had they won the tournament they would've been on the top. But according to her losing the final was a good wake-up call for her. She stressed how India was challenged in the final and lost. Speaking to PTI, she explained:

"Even if they have won this Asia Cup, it would have been like ‘oh, we are a better team’. But because they didn’t, they got a wake-up call and I am hoping it is a wake-up call. Not in a bad way but in a good way.

"They were not challenged and whenever they were, it was okay, it wasn’t like digging in deep to come out victorious. When Sri Lanka posed a challenge to them, especially after winning against Pakistan (in the semifinal), they were a team on a high.”

We lost 2-1 to England. We lost 2-1 to Australia - Anjum Chopra on India Women

Anjum Chopra further talked about how India Women have been struggling to get going of late. She stressed that they have been plugging in those gaps and they need to make things right. She explained:

“We lost 2-1 to England. We lost 2-1 to Australia. We were challenged by South Africa. When we go to the Asia Cup, there are other teams also challenging us. Sri Lanka didn’t even qualify for the 2022 World Cup in New Zealand because they didn’t have any cricket for two-and-a-half years during COVID-19. But look where they are now.”

“Has our team shown that kind of advancement and improvement? Yes, to a certain extent. But are we still plugging in those gaps whereby we are not conceding defeat? The reason why we lost the Asia Cup final (was) because we are still not plugging those gaps. Certain decisions are not favourable. Certain resources that we have at our disposal are not favourable. You have to make do with what you have, which is probably not quite there right now to become world leaders," she concluded.