Being runners-up in the last edition, India’s third-place finish in the just-concluded women’s World Cup in Australia may look like going one step back. Coming as it did on the back of a poor 2008, it seems like considerable progress. In a candid chat with Sportline, Team India vice-captain Amita Sharma tries to put the result in perspective. Excerpts:

After the team’s performance over the past one year, not many expected them to fare this well in the World Cup. You must be very satisfied with the result?
I won’t say I’m very happy. We had reached the final in the last edition, while this time we’ve finished third. If you analyse it over a period of four years, then we have lost ground. However, given the fact that we lost to England and Australia badly last year, it’s not that bad a result after all.

And it could’ve been better had the team not lost crucial matches.
We lost the games we should’ve won. The loss against New Zealand hurt us the most. Luck played an important factor.

India lost four wickets to run-outs — including yours — in that match. Do you think poor running between the wickets did the team in?
That was a one-off match, I won’t blame running between the wickets as much as, say, our fielding. It certainly left a lot to be desired. We couldn’t latch on to the catches and that cost us dearly.

How will you rate the team’s performance with the bat and the ball?
Mithali (Raj) and Anjum (Chopra) were among the runs while the bowling was pretty good too. But you can’t ignore the fact that there were no hundreds or five-wicket hauls.

... contd.