We need to trust ourselves, I trust this team - Harmanpreet

Despite a one-sided final, where India were dominated from the first ball of the contest, never to find themselves level in competition with Australia on Sunday evening (March 8), Harmanpreet Kaur, the Indian skipper, has retained the faith in her team to progress well in the future. For a squad that had only five players over 25-years of age, she believes, the next year and a half will be critical for them.

"The way we played in the league stages, it was outstanding. It was unfortunate to drop those catches today," she said after the 85-run loss in the final. "I still have a lot of faith in my team... Upcoming one and half years is important. The future is important for us. We need to stay calm and focus on the areas we need to improve, especially the fielding. We know we weren't able to win the game because of our fielding. We need to keep these things in mind. The future is great for us. We need to trust ourselves. I trust this team."

It has been a case of so-near and yet-so-far for India in the last few years, failing in the final of the 50-over World Cup in 2017, in the semis of World T20 in 2018 and yet again in the final this year. The Indian skipper believes the team, if it continues to progress in the same fashion, will have a victorious campaign in a major tournament is around the corner.

"We have to keep working hard," she said. "We are in the right line, every year we are improving. We just need to think of how we are going to play with more focus in big games, because sometimes, we are not able to give our best in important games. I hope upcoming years will give us a lot of glory. This year we are hoping for some more games in the Women's T20 Challenge. That tournament is very important for our domestic cricket and we got two players from there. Hopefully, we do get more players so that they can contribute to the team."

It was quite an anti-climatic finish to a tournament where India had peaked early, defending a reasonably low score against Australia in the opener. They maintained their winning run through the group stages, and got a free pass to the final after their semi-final encounter against England was washed out. However, on the big day, with over 86,000 people gathered at the MCG, they came up short against an Australian side that put their best front on all three departments - with bat, ball and on the field.

But even from India's perspective, for an improved fielding side they have come to become in the last few months, they didn't put out their best. Both the Australian openers - Beth Mooney and Alyssa Healy - were dropped early in the their innings before they went on to register their respective fifties en route a quickfire century partnership. Other than that, there were the usual misfields and the inability to cut down on quick singles and twos.

However, Harmanpreet brushed aside ideas of the fielders struggling due to the magnanimity of the occasion and the crowd, and instead explained how a casual error led to a spiralling effect on the game. "When you lose half chances, it's hard for a bowler to get that confidence back. Then it's easy for a batter too because, when they get a chance, then they are just batting freely. They don't have any pressure.

"I don't think we were fielding under pressure, but unfortunately, we were not able to create those chances because that was very crucial, because they both were in great form. You cannot drop the catches... no doubt we didn't field well today, but definitely we need to learn from today's performance because, when you're playing a great level of cricket, you cannot drop yourself. We were not up to the mark. We will definitely take this thing seriously. Next time we come to play, we'll definitely be one of the best fielding sides."

It's not a loss that Harmanpreet has taken too harshly on her. In fact, it's not even a loss that she believes will pain her as much as the close finish in the 2017 World Cup final at Lord's - where India lost to England. Despite the defeat, she admitted that it was 'a great day'.

"It was a great day, we enjoyed it. Winning and losing are a part of the game. You cannot convey your day with winning and losing because one team is going to win and one team is going to lose. I think, at the end of the day, it was a great tournament for us. Hopefully, in future, we'll give our best and try to win for the country," she said, and added that she hopes it will motivate more girls in the country to take up the sport in the future.

"If you see our team is quite young, and young girls are coming and giving 100 percent for the team. I think, after reaching into the finals, this will definitely motivate many girls back home, and they will come and play cricket, and I think it will give great momentum for us."