Women's World Cup: Why India fell woefully short

TOI takes a look at where things went wrong for Mithali's team at the World CupThe three-wicket loss to South Africa on Sunday signalled the end of India's campaign in the ICC Women's World Cup. The sight of a dejected Indian team walking off the Hagley Oval in Christchurch was heartbreaking. But when you keep emotions away, you realise India not just missed a trick or two, they fell short in many departments even before the start of the tournament.

In the coming days, the Indian think-tank, the selectors and coaches in particular, have a lot of soul-searching to do. Although India came within touching distance of making it to the semifinals, they never looked like a champion side which could pose a threat to the best teams. A case in point is the fact that barring West Indies, they failed to defeat the other three semifinalists - Australia, England and South Africa in the league phase.

So where did India go wrong? TEAM SELECTIONUnlike the dominant Australia side which has an embarrassment of riches, the Indian resources were always limited, so picking the right players for specific roles was crucial. In hindsight, dropping top-order bat Jemimah Rodrigues and the experienced Shikha Pandey proved detrimental. Shikha's absence was glaring especially when India needed someone to lead the pace attack in the absence of Jhulan Goswami against South Africa.