Question: How much time does it take a national team to reach the World Cup from the time a new game is introduced?

Answer: A long time.

Indonesian Under-19 girls have proved the answer incorrect. That too in a game that does not have deep roots in Indonesia -- cricket! The story of the women’s U19 team making it into the International Cricket Council (ICC) U19 Women’s T20 World Cup in South Africa in 2023 is a flight of fancy.

Eight years back women’s cricket started in Indonesia from modest beginnings. Most girls did not know the basics. Dearth of coaches to impart the fundamental skills was another challenge. Against all odds, in 2014 the first women’s team was established. During the same year, a national championship for women got underway in the archipelago.

The first overseas trip for special training for the Indonesian team ensued. An eighteen-member squad was sent to Jaipur, India during 2015. Their trip to India, where cricket is a conviction, gave the squad a flavor of cricket’s paradigms and popularity. This tour was designed as high-performance training program. The learning curve journeyed northeast.

The Indonesian women’s team got the drift of an international amphitheater soon in the form of Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in 2017. Indonesia performed exceedingly well to clinch the silver medal. No mean achievement for the rookies. Once success was tasted, Indonesia not only went on to beat neighboring countries like Malaysia and Singapore, but also beat more-seasoned teams like Hong Kong, Fiji and Bhutan. The Youth and Sports Ministry supported them enormously during the SEA Games in 2017, which solidified the foundation for the women's team.

COVID-19 took its toll in Indonesia too as in any other part of the world from 2020 through 2021. However, the Indonesian girls did not lose their compass. They kept on working consistently with the help of professional coaches, who were recruited through the national cricket body by then.

In December 2020, the ICC announced the qualification pathway for the 2023 World Cup. Indonesia was included in the 2021 ICC Women's T20 World Cup East Asia Pacific (EAP) qualifier regional group, alongside seven other teams. In June 2022, Indonesian girls were up against Papua New Guinea for the qualifier -- the last opportunity to get the boarding pass for the U19 World Cup.

PNG traditionally has a strong cricket team vis-à-vis other teams in Southeast Asia. Indonesia had a mountain to climb. This was a three-match series. Indonesia won the first match and PNG, the second. Batting first, Indonesia scored 89 in the decider in their allotted 20 overs. PNG lost wickets on a regular basis. The match went to the wire. When the last over-started, the equation was PNG needed 3 runs to win with two wickets in hand. Ayu Kurniartini was chosen to bowl this most-crucial over. She caught the batter LBW with her first delivery and she broke the furniture of the last batter with her second. Indonesia qualified for the U19 World Cup.

More success followed. A nine-match tour between Singapore and Indonesia, both senior and U19, was held in Bali in November. The senior teams locked horns in six matches, and U19 teams fought each other in three. Indonesia’s women’s team trounced Singapore 9-0 in both the categories put together. The spirit was obvious and infectious -- an amazing achievement for Indonesia, which did not have a cricket-playing colonial controller.

The victory against Singapore should work as a strong stimulus for Indonesia when it plays the World Cup. The first-ever ICC Women’s U19 World Cup is getting on track in South Africa from Jan. 14-29, 2023. Eleven full-member nations are in by default. Regional qualifiers decided four more. The United States joined the 16 as it was the only worthy nation to race as per ICC’s Event Pathway Participation Criteria in the Americas region. The battle lines have been drawn and the final table has been decided.

Group A: Australia, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and US. Group B: England, Pakistan, Rwanda and Zimbabwe. Group C: Indonesia, Ireland, New Zealand and West Indies. Group D: India, Scotland, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates.

The top team from each group will move into the playoffs.

The Indonesian squad has been training in Bali for the last two months. This was phase one. The second phase kicked off in Bengaluru, India in December. This is being done in order to get acclimatized to turf wickets, on which the World Cup will be played. Girls will camp in an integrated-housing campus with world-class cricket amenities such as turf wickets, indoor and outdoor nets and state-of-the-art gyms with the support of well-trained physios and medical staff.

During their 30-day training in India, Indonesian team will play eight practice matches against Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) U19 women’s team. The red-and-white will then head to South Africa directly from India. They will play a three-match official T20 series with Rwanda, who have also qualified for the World Cup Formal practice games for the World Cup will fire up on Jan. 7, 2023. Indonesia will get to play against England and Zimbabwe to get a real feel of the battle.

In Wesikaratna Dewi, the captain, Kurniartini, the strike bowler and Ariani, the opening batter, Indonesia has some exciting talent. While Indonesia may not threaten some heavyweights in world cricket, it is expected that it would ruffle a few feathers.

Though the Youth and Sports Ministry and Indonesian Sports Council (KONI) continues to provide vast support, the team has been successful in enticing private sponsorship too. This may well be the precursor for abundant assistance in future.

Here is wishing all the best for a team, which has carved intensity and winning attitude besides making history from initiation to the World Cup in the quickest time possible.

—The writer served as Jakarta Cricket Association president in 2007 and 2008, as well as Cricket Indonesia chairman in 2009.

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