India's stunning win over defending champions Australia proves how competitive the women's T20 World Cup is going to be, says former India Test and ODI captain Mithali Raj.
India have been doing well in the 50-over format but they have plenty to ponder about in the shortest form, having lost their previous series in New Zealand 0-3.
Bisht returned with impressive figures of four for 25 to help Indian women defend a modest a 203-run target
Milkha Singh, 92, best known as the 'Flying Sikh' and most remembered for finishing fourth in the 400m final in the 1960 Rome Olympic Games, was bestowed with the lifetime achievement award.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) is yet to release the 'Playing Conditions' for the WTC final. Also, before boarding the flight to London, for the England tour, every male and female member needs to carry six RT-PCR negative results.
India were already in semi-finals after winning their first three matches but didn't let the intensity down against the formidable 'Southern Stars' in an inconsequential last group league encounter.
India beat Ireland by 52 runs to enter the semi-finals of the ICC Women's World T20 on Thursday.
Riding on Mithali Raj's record century, India 'A' defeated their Australian counterparts by 28 runs to take a winning 2-0 lead in the three-match T20 series in Mumbai on Wednesday.
Pacers Shikha Pandey and Jhulan Goswami snapped four wickets each while Smriti Mandhana hit a half-century as India outclassed England by seven wickets in the second ODI to seal the three-match series.
The 15-year-old Shafali, who was dismissed for a four-ball duck on her debut in the opening match, laid the foundation for a good total with a 33-ball innings, while Jemimah Rodrigues (33) provided the stablity, scoring a 22-ball 33.
Spinner Deepti Sharma bowled three maiden overs in her four-over quota, apart from taking three wickets, as the Indian women team edged past South Africa by 11 runs in the first T20 International.
Australia goes into the ICC women's T20 World Cup summit clash as favourites, but with India having stunned them on the opening night in Sydney, we could be in for the most electric final yet.
India's star-studded top four failed to fire against the West Indies, but Shikha Pandey's late show hauled them up to 107 and they defended it superbly, Poonam Yadav starring with the ball to earn a two-run win.
Indian women's team will have to learn from the repeated mistakes
Indian women's cricket team will be eager to pile further misery on South Africa
When the two sides met in the inaugural edition of the ICC Women's Championship in Bengaluru in November 2014, South Africa had won the series 2-1.
Deepti is currently placed second on the MRF Tyres ICC Women's ODI Rankings for all-rounders only after Australia's Ellyse Perry. At a young age, she has been an integral part of the Indian team, even finishing as her team's highest wicket-taker at the ICC Women's World Cup 2017, where India lost to England in the final.
England women scripted a sensational recovery from a difficult position to register a consolation two-wicket win in the third and final ODI to prevent hosts India from completing a whitewash in the three-match series.
Harmanpreet Kaur led Supernovas to a four-wicket victory over Velocity with a brilliant 51 in the final of the Women's T20 Challenge on Saturday, and immediately credited her team-mates for the triumph.
Mithali feels that she has always been unfairly targeted despite some of the other players also coming cropper in shorter formats.
'I feel grateful that people are at home and are looking for something to watch.'
Having won the three-match ODI series 2-1, India are currently leading the five-match T20 series 2-0.
India will face their biggest challenge so far in the ICC Women's World T20 when they lock horns with a gifted Australian team in an inconsequential game, in Guyana, on Saturday.
Team India needs to ensure that the frequent middle-order collapses are not repeated in the showpiece event.
Nicole Bolton struck an unbeaten 100 off 101 balls after Australian spinners bamboozled the Indian batting to set up a crushing eight-wicket win in the opening game of the three-match series, which is part of the ICC Women's Championship.
During the May 17 conclave in Mumbai, the captains and coaches of the women's state teams will be joining their male counterparts in giving assessment of the just-concluded domestic season.
All that's transpired on and off the cricket pitch on Wednesday.
Indian women's ODI captain Mithali Raj said cricket has helped her deal with the adversities of life.
India will be looking to erase the memories of a heart-breaking World Cup final defeat last year when they take on England in the semi-finals of the ICC Women's World T20 on Friday morning (IST).
Dominant in the series-opener, the Indian women's cricket team would now look to seal the issue when it takes on South Africa in the second ODI of the three-match series
Inability to handle pressure in big finals has kept the women's team away from a major ICC trophy
Alyssa Healy and Beth Mooney struck the highest scores in ICC Women's T20 World Cup final history as record-breaking Australia secured a famous fifth title on home soil, in Melbourne, on Sunday. A record-breaking attendance for a women's cricket match of 86,174 watched on as Australia downed first-time finalists India by 85 runs at the MCG, with the openers setting the tone for a clinical performance.
Meg Lanning's Australia, long the benchmark in women's cricket, will bid for a record-extending fifth T20 World Cup title after a rocky ride to their sixth final. Harmanpreet Kaur-captained India arrive at the MCG undefeated and without having bowled a ball in the rained-out semi-final against England.
Images from the women's T20 World Cup match between India and New Zealand in Melbourne, on Thursday.
Opener Smriti Mandhana led the chase for India with familiar panache after a feisty bowling performance that steered the side to a series-clinching eight-wicket triumph over New Zealand Women in the second one-dayer.
Chasing a record total, New Zealand could only muster 160 for 9 in their 20 overs.
In the lead-up to the World T20, India have hit good form, beating hosts Sri Lanka before blanking Australia A at home. What should give them additional confidence going into the opener is the wins against reigning champions West Indies and England in the warm-up matches.
India defeated England by eight wickets to record a consolation win in the women's T20 tri-series
Schutt became the first Australian bowler to claim a hat-trick in this format.
The Indian women's cricket team would be aiming for quick recovery from a rare setback when it takes on South Africa in the fourth Twenty20 International, where a win would give the visitors an unbeatable series lead, in Centurion, on Wednesday.
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