2022: When Indian women's team delivered on big stages

NEW DELHI: In a country where their male counterparts outshine them on regular basis in terms of visibility, popularity and pay scale, the Indian women's cricket team had a fantastic year in 2022, which saw them win big at multi-country events, including some historic wins.

Besides this, a historic step was also taken to remove the gender-disparity prevalent in Indian cricket. Women in Blue started off the year on a bad note. Indian team toured New Zealand for an ODI series, which India lost 4-1.

This did not augur well for India ahead of the 2022 Women's 50-over World Cup in March-April this year. India narrowly missed the semifinal berth. They finished in fifth position in the tournament, winning three out of their seven matches and finishing with six points.

India's next major assignment was a cricket tournament held in July-August during the Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham.

It was for the second time that the sport was featured in CWG and the first time women were playing it. Indian women came inches close to making history and winning their first gold medal, but had to settle for a silver after losing to Australia by nine runs in the tournament final.

Nonetheless, keeping in mind the stage at which these players performed so brilliantly, a silver was just as good as gold. Pacer Renuka Singh topped the bowling charts in this tournament with 11 wickets. India then toured to Sri Lanka for a three-ODI series in July and Women in Blue clinched it 3-0.

In September, India toured England for a white-ball series. India lost the T20I series by 2-1, but followed it with a historic clean sweep in ODI series, their first ODI triumph on English soil.

In October 2022 came Indian women's team's next big assignment, the Asia Cup 2022. After the men's team had failed to defend the title, all eyes were on the women's team to capture the gold. Women in Blue did just that and played some fantastic cricket throughout the tournament and defeated Sri Lanka to clinch their seventh Asia Cup title in the final.

Team India also dominated the statistical charts, with batter Jemimah Rodrigues being the top run scorer with 217 runs. Deepti Sharma also led the bowling charts with 13 wickets and was adjudged as 'Man of the Series'. After this, Women in Blue were awarded for their phenomenal performances at big tournaments.

After delivering when it mattered the most, The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) introduced pay parity across both genders, bringing in equal match-fee for both men and women. This progressive step was hailed by players, fans, gender activists/bodies etc alike.

India's final assignment of the year was a series against Australia at home in December, which consisted of five T20Is. Though India lost the series 1-4, the huge crowds in Mumbai that attended the matches, Team India's fighting spirit and Richa Ghosh' power-hitting were some of the biggest positives for the hosts.

The year also was the one when India bid farewell to two of its biggest stars, Mithali Raj and Jhulan Goswami, who announced their retirement from the sport. Mithali retired with over 10,000 runs across all formats. Jhulan Goswami also left the sport with 355 international scalps.

With numerous records to their name and experience of two decades as international stars under their belt, they are indeed the epitome of longevity and the word 'legend'.

Though the Indian women's team enjoyed great success at big stages in 2022, they will have to start from zero next year, with their eyes on the ICC Women's T20 World Cup trophy, which will start from February 10 onwards.

Biggest performers from the team:

ODIs -Leading run-scorers

1).Harmanpreet Kaur (754 runs in 17 matches at an average of 58.00, with two tons and five fifties)

2).Smriti Mandhana (696 in 15 innings at an average of 49.71, with one ton and six fifties)

3).Mithali Raj (414 runs in 12 innings at an average of 41.40, with five fifties)

Leading wicket-takers

1).Rajeshwari Gayakwad (24 wickets)

2).Deepti Sharma (22 wickets)

3).Renuka Singh (18 wickets)

T20Is -Leading run-scorers

1).Smriti Mandhana (594 runs in 21 innings at an average of 33.00, with five fifties)

2).Shafali Verma (544 runs in 23 innings at an average of 23.65, with two fifties)

3).Harmanpreet Kaur (524 in 20 innings at 32.75, with two fifties)

Leading wicket-takers

1).Deepti Sharma (29 wickets)

2).Renuka Singh (22 wickets)

3).Sneh Rana (19 wickets).