Time to move on from Harmanpreet and Amol: Diana Edulji

Diana Edulji issued a blunt assessment of the Indian women's team after it failed to qualify for the semifinals of the T20 World Cup in England. Without mincing words she said it was time for India to move on from skipper Harmanpreet Kaur and head coach Amol Muzumdar.

In a stinging critique of the team's performances in the ongoing ICC event, the former India captain, who also served as a member of the BCCI's Committee of Administrators (CoA), said the players and coaches had become ensconced in a comfort zone. 'Stagnated' was the term she used.

"I think we should look beyond Harman. Though she is my favourite player and I've always supported her, I think we need to move on, at least in the T20Is. Let her continue as a player and think about a new captain," Edulji told Cricketlineguruji. "We should have someone with a few better ideas, especially in terms of strategy. Also, bowling changes - there's a lot more that goes into the captaincy. I think she's stagnated now."

Edulji's stinging critique of the side comes on day when the Amita Sharma-headed selection committee retained Harmanpreet as skipper for the Asian Games. Edulji felt an opportunity had been missed. "No, I'm not. I'm not," she declared categorically when asked whether she was comfortable with the selection committee call.

"We must look ahead, and this was the right time. Maybe it would have looked a bit like a knee-jerk reaction because we just lost the World Cup, but I think the time has come to take some hard decisions. If you want the team to do well consistently and not just have that one-off victory in November (in the World Cup), it's not right. We really need to take some big steps now and arrest the slide."

She did not hold back saying when tough calls could be taken in men's cricket (like dropping skipper Suryakumar Yadav), why not in women's cricket. "Because I did hear Harman saying in the post-match presentation that they are looking forward to the Olympics. (The same thing Suryakumar also had said). Yeah, I agree. So if we can take bold decisions in men's cricket, I think we should take bold decisions in women's cricket as well."

She noted that Harmanpreet has been playing a safe game. "If she's playing, then she has to play her natural game. She has to go all out and play, irrespective of the situation. By playing safe, you're still losing. If you play aggressively and lose, it's the same story. So, you might as well play aggressively. You never know - you could get away with it, like in the last innings (versus Australia) she played."

She came down heavily on head coach Muzumdar too. "I don't see him being able to produce anything more now than what he has already done. His contribution, yes, has been good. But I think we now need someone who can lift the morale of the team and, you know, be a little stricter, I would say. What the girls need, at least, is someone who can really push them out of their comfort zones."

Edulji also questioned some selection calls in England. "Now, we played Yastika Bhatia, as what? She couldn't come out to bat. She's not a bowler. She's the second wicketkeeper. So, it was a wasted position. We could have had someone in her place who might have contributed.

"Nandni (Sharma) was one of the wicket-taking finds of the WPL and then did well again. I don't see why we couldn't continue with her and Kranti Goud."

She was also very critical of the coach's decision to retire Jemimah Rodrigues before the last over of the India innings against Australia even though the batter was struggling to accelerate throughout her innings (34 off 28 balls).

"That makes no sense. Absolutely no sense," she said, about the coach's decision. "That's what I said. They have to be taken out of their comfort zone. There's too much of a comfort zone now, where they feel, 'Okay, there's nobody behind me.' That's where we have to build a strong second string, so that every player knows someone is waiting for their opportunity. If I don't perform, I'll be out."

Edulji, an advisor to Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA), said India needed different teams for the ODIs and the T20Is. "We need to think of a different T20 team. We can't have the same team playing all formats of the game. It's high time we distributed the workload because it's taking a toll on the players' fitness, which is already on the lower side. It's not fair. There are so many players we can train specifically for T20 cricket.

"And then, I think we should even have different coaches and different captains. I think it's time we moved on from this support staff. It's not giving us the results we wanted. Yes, we did well in the 50-over format. But that's our game. The 50-over format is our game, not T20 cricket."

She came down heavily on fielding. "I'm a little surprised that there was no proactiveness, especially from the fielding coach (Munish Bali). I cannot understand what is happening. He's just not able to lift the team, or the players are simply not interested in fielding." The Indian team dropped 11 catches in the World Cup, third worst fielding side in the competition, with seven players guilty of the butter fingers.

"It is sad that we could not make it to the semifinals, which we should have. We have only ourselves to blame for that, particularly because of our loss to South Africa, with our fielding letting us down completely. I still feel our pace attack is not settled at all. Every game we have a different pacer coming in and going out. We need to give the pacers some confidence so they can raise their game and gain the experience of bowling consistently. It's the same with Australia," she analysed.

Edulji praised the BCCI for the support and exposure being provided to the players but said time has come for tough decisions. "The BCCI needs to be saluted for what it is doing, and the players should respond. Yes, they should respond. We did it in the 50-over format, but that's not enough. You have to win bilateral series as well. You lost to South Africa and then you lost to England. That's not right. I don't see why they cannot do better.

"The same 11, 15 or 16 players keep moving around and playing. That's why I'm saying they have to come out of their comfort zone. Drop a few players - or, if you don't want to call it dropping them, say they're being rested. I think this was the ideal time to make those changes for the Asian Games. If we win the Asian Games and come back with another medal, the same story will continue - that this group carries on for another series. And it will never end."

Meanwhile, Edulji was happy that the Indian women's team has qualified for the Olympics. "Oh, yes. Yes. In fact, I sent a message to Jay Shah Ji as well, saying, 'Congratulations.' And I'm sure both the teams (men are yet to formally qualify although it is almost assured) will come back with medals. Hopefully, yes. Definitely. It's a very big step. I only hope they don't keep this same team all the way till the Olympics," she said, signing off.