Against South Africa, in their last series, the women’s team failed to capture the ODI series and largely it was down to poor bowling displays. Not only did they allow the South African openers to tee off, they also didn’t quite exert pressure with the ball. Instrumental in India’s success over the last year, Poonam Yadav didn’t step up the mark in that ODI series and only played one T20I in the three-match series. That doesn't, however, take her importance from this setup. In 2019, she finished with 19 wickets from 11 games and she has only played four games since then.

In T20Is, last year, she finished with 10 wickets, becoming an integral part of the bowling setup. Looking at India’s schedule for the next year, with the 50-over World Cup coming up, it is evident that Poonam’s influence on this setup will be massive. Combine that with the two Tests that they are set to play, a lot would depend on the leg-spinner in the coming days, for the women’s team, which is also the major reason behind her retaining her place at the top of the contract list, alongside Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana.

Having made her breakthrough into the setup in September 2019, this promotion was always on the cards - especially considering how she turned the cricketing world upside down in the span of a year. Since her debut, Shafali has arguably been the difference-maker in this Indian T20I setup, with her aggression ranking up top with some of the best names in women’s cricket. Not just that, she has also established herself as the No.1 T20I player, way ahead of Australia’s Beth Mooney. Against South Africa, once again she made a stellar impact, with scores of 60, 47 and 23. 

Since 2018, Veda Krishnamurthy has stayed as a bystander in the India women’s 50-over plans, with inconsistency being cited as the major reason. Given that she was brought back into the setup for the T20 World Cup in Australia, where she made useful contributions in the middle-order, it was expected that she might as well find her place in the new contract list. However, she misses out, which means that till the 2023 T20 World Cup, it might be a far stretch for the selectors to reconsider their plans and bring in the talented batter. 

a) "If the women’s team is not winning any tournaments, how can the BCCI pay them so much?"

Now let me put this across - La Liga, in comparison to the English Premier League, fails to garner attention. Now does that mean that it is upto the players like Lionel Messi and co to increase the viewership? Let’s not even get there because the women’s team have just played one series since the 2020 T20 World Cup. This is where we have to draw the line. For women’s cricket to grow, the BCCI needs to take utmost care, and by that I mean organise tours on a consistent basis.