Once on a holiday, Titas Sadhu’s father Ranadeep asked her to bowl with the tennis ball while targeting a football goal-post from a distance. The 19-year-old had dabbled at athletics, she used to play football too but when she bowled pace with ease that day, her father decided to train her as a fast bowler. And now, from the land of Jhulan Goswami, India have another gem on their hands.
On Friday at the DY Patil Stadium, the right arm medium pacer had another memorable outing in her young career, nearly emulating the player she idolises and is often mentioned in the same line as. She was inches away from becoming only the second Indian bowler after Goswami to pick up a five-for against Australia in women’s T20Is. But with figures of 4/17, she finished as player of the match as India bounced back in some style from the 0-3 ODI series defeat to outplay the world champions in a thumping 9-wicket win.
In the past year, Titas has been the player of the match in the final of the U19 World Cup and the gold medal match of the Asian Games with figures of 2/6 and 3/6. Her talent has been evident for a while but she has had to bide some time on the bench in the last month, after having played two T20Is against England.
Harmanpreet Kaur would later reveal that it was an 11th-hour decision by the team management to field the extra pacer in the XI in Navi Mumbai – India went with four medium-pace options, something that is quite rare. And Titas responded with a four-wicket haul that included three wickets in the powerplay to break the back of Australia’s top order.
“She comes from Bengal, where we have already seen one legendary cricketer in Jhulu di. We shouldn’t compare but the more I look at her, for her age she is very sorted. She tells this is where I want to bowl and this is the field for me. It’s amazing to see that kind of clarity at this age. Hope she continues doing that,” vice-captain Smriti Mandhana said after the match.
It is that sort of clarity that was evident in her bowling on the night. Alyssa Healy, reflecting on a rare heavy defeat for the Australians, said India hitting the right lengths early was a crucial part of them being kept to just 141 and Titas exemplified that.
Her first wicket came in her first over as she got the dangerous Beth Mooney top-edging one to mid on. Then came the double-strike in her next over. After a lovely away-seaming delivery that nearly had Tahlia McGrath edging to slip, she got the Aussie vice captain out caught at deep-third. The outswinger has been a natural delivery from the time she started, and it was one that straightened that got Ash Gardner pushing it back, and Titas took a sharp return catch.
Coming back to bowl at the death, Titas bounced back well after being hit for a six by Annabel Sutherland to pick up her fourth. Off her last delivery, she was celebrating a fifth wicket too off what seemed to be a plumb LBW to dismiss Georgia Wareham, with a delivery she has worked hard with her father and coach – one that seams into the right-hander. The Aussie batter had a successful DRS review, with the ball deemed to be moving too much.
It is a credit to Titas’ match-readiness that she got into the XI and made an impact right away. Jonathan Batty, her coach at Delhi Capitals had praised her cricketing acumen at the end of last year’s Women’s Premier League. Even though she didn’t feature, her desire to learn from senior pros like Marizanne Kapp and Shikha Pandey had stood out for him.
“If she continues on her development trajectory, she could be one of the best players in the world in 4-5 years, I would predict. She has soaked up the knowledge of speaking to the senior players, she talks a lot to the batters too and picks their brains to make the most of her bowling skills at a tactical level,” Batty had said.
Near-perfect night
Titas’ bowling, alongside two wickets each for the constantly impressive Shreyanka Patil and Deepti Sharma, helped India bowl Australia out with four balls to spare. It is only the fourth time they have been all out in this format while batting first. India’s improved energy on the field also was a standout feature, after their catching came under the scanner during the ODIs.
Harmanpreet herself was flawless with four catches, while the rest of the fielding unit delivered across the board except for a couple of missed opportunities. Taking 10 Australian wickets, with dew expected to come in later, was half the job done.
The batters then stepped up too, with Shafali Verma remaining unbeaten on her comeback into the side after being dropped for the last two ODIs. The opener struck a glorious cover drive for four off the first ball she faced and didn’t look back, finishing with 64 off 44 balls.
Smriti Mandhana took her time to get going but finished with a run-a-ball half-century too. Australia were sloppy on the field with extras and dropped catches in what was a forgettable night for them. They would be itching to bounce back strong and India must be wary of that but the night was near-perfect for Harmanpreet’s side, a much-needed shot in the arm to make themselves believe that the gulf between the sides isn’t as far as the ODIs suggested.
