NEW DELHI: “Mark my words… Australia will lose only one match in the Women’s World Cup — to India in the semifinals! India will win this tournament” – that’s what former India women’s team fielding coach Biju George boldly predicted on social media on October 26 — well before the semifinal lineup was even decided.George, who served as India’s fielding coach between 2017 and 2019, soon started getting calls after his post. Some friends laughed off his prediction, others questioned it, and a few scoffed – “India will win? Are you kidding me?”
But George stayed calm and composed — and waited. His words turned prophetic as India stunned Australia in the semifinals, chasing a record total to reach the final, and then defeated South Africa in the title clash to lift their maiden ODI World Cup trophy.“I wish betting was legal in India — I could’ve put some money, like 10–15 days back, and cleared off some of my debts,” a laughing George told TimesofIndia.com in an exclusive interview.“I knew we were winning this tournament 150% because I saw the pattern. See, life is full of patterns, and as a coach, you look for patterns. I knew we would win. I said, ‘Australia — definitely we are going to win,’ and people were ridiculing me. In fact, if you look at my social media post, one of them tried to pull my leg, asking me what I’d do if I were a coach. I said, ‘Take a rest the day before the match and send Jemi one down.’ And that’s what happened,” he said.“The next day, I wrote again that ‘This cup is for India to lose and South Africa to win.’ They didn’t understand the grammar — they thought I was predicting India would lose. The meaning was — only if India did something very stupid would we lose this. There was no way we were going to lose.”“It was belief in the team. I saw the team evolving, coming together. It was not a solo effort — it was a chorus, everybody getting together and contributing all around. India had this problem in finishing matches, but now with Deepti (Sharma) and Richa (Ghosh) doing really well, the tail end of the game was sorted out. So that made me 150% sure we were going to win this,” he said.
Harmanpreet steps out of the shadows of legends
Harmanpreet Kaur was part of the 2017 World Cup, when India — led by Mithali Raj — fell agonizingly short in the final, losing to England by nine runs. Alongside Mithali, veteran pacer Jhulan Goswami, Veda Krishnamurthy, Smriti Mandhana, Sushma Verma, Shikha Pandey, Poonam Yadav, Punam Raut, and Rajeshwari Gayakwad were all part of that heartbreaking defeat. India came so close, yet missed the crown — a wound that still hasn’t healed for George.Only three players from that 2017 heartbreak — Harmanpreet, Deepti, and Mandhana — were part of the 2025 final, where they finally etched their names in history as India lifted their first-ever Women’s World Cup.
Biju George with current Team India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur
On being asked about Harmanpreet Kaur’s ability to emerge from the shadows of big stars, George said, “Even with Mithali around, Poonam around — Harman was, in white-ball cricket, the better player among all these people. Mithali used to be the Jemimah of that time — she was the one cog around which the team revolved. But Harman could take it away from you in an instant.”“And I’m lucky — I’ve never seen a better innings than the one she played against Australia in Derby. Cold, rainy day — Harman destroyed them with 171 (vs Australia in the 2017 semis), and I don’t think women’s cricket will ever see anything like that again,” he said.“Earlier, Harman used to believe that she had to win the match all by herself. Now, she knows she’s got people like Richa, Deepti, Jemi, Smriti, Rawal, Shafali, Amanjot — who can win the match, who can be match-winners too. That takes huge pressure off her. So that means she is left free, like, okay — ‘I know I can take it deep; there are people who can come and clean up.’ That’s good,” he said.
Good fielding wins you matches
After the 2017 World Cup heartbreak, the emergence of players like Jemimah Rodrigues took India’s fielding standards to another level. On several occasions, both Jemimah and Deepti Sharma have credited George for raising the bar in fielding and teaching the team the art of being a ‘live wire’ on the field.Even in the 2025 final, India’s sharpness in the field stood out.After posting 298 for 7 in 50 overs, the team didn’t allow South Africa to find the boundary easily in the early overs, building immense pressure on the opposition.South Africa could manage only 33 for no loss in the first seven overs, hitting just four boundaries and a six. Such was India’s intensity in the field — it felt as if they had spun a web around the South African openers.
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“Jemi, Radha, Arundhati — brilliant fielders, a pleasure to work with, a privilege. These people — if you’re a goldsmith, you need gold to work with.As a fielding coach, when you have people like Jemi and Aru, ready to throw their bodies on the line, slide around, willing to learn and try everything — that is good,” George said.
Biju George with a young Jemimah Rodrigues
“Jemi has put it on record many times, crediting me for transforming her as a fielder. She also has a picture with her right and left hands all bandaged up, all swollen, after a few sessions with me. That was in 2017 or 2018 — she still has that picture; once in a while, she sends it to me, saying, ‘Look what you had done to me!’” the former fielding coach said.
