Is Megan Schutt scared of India?

Australia and India have played each other for a fair bit over the last month. While they clashed twice in the round-robin matches of the T20I tri-series, they also played the final then. Soon, the teams played the opening game of the T20 World Cup 2020.

Megan Schutt, who was a part of all those games, picked up a wicket each in the matches in the tri-series. But in the tournament opener, she went wicketless, going for 0/35, which ended her 23-match streak of picking at least one wicket in T20Is.

“I just hate playing India - they’ve got the wood over me,” she said ahead of the final. “Smriti and Verma have got me covered. That six Shafali hit me for in the tri-series was probably the biggest one I've ever been hit for. There are obviously some plans we're going to revisit as bowlers. Clearly, I'm not the best match-up to those two in the power play. They find me quite easy to play.”

She’s not out of place in her assessment. She only has nine wickets in eight matches against India. While her economy rate in T20Is is 5.98, it rises to 6.93 against India. The average too rises to close to 25, as opposed to a touch below 16 overall.

“We're at that Final we've been talking about for so long and against India, which is super fitting considering the tri-series we had,” said the right-arm pacer, whose 2/17 in the semis against South Africa on Thursday (March 6) made the difference.

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“It couldn't really be a bigger challenge for us. It's not really a bad thing, it's good we're going up against a team we've played a lot recently and it's the same for them as well.”

After Australia entered yet another World Cup final, Ellyse Perry, who is out injured yet with the squad, had tears of joy. That moved Megan Schutt.

“I got off the field and Pez had tears in her eyes and that made me immediately tear up,” said the right-arm seamer, who has 85 T20I wickets.

“You just don't see that emotion from Pez. For her, number one, to show the pain against New Zealand meant there was a serious injury there, she doesn't normally show her pain. To come off the field and see the pure joy in her eyes, the tears as well, I could have cried in that moment and it shows the team character she is.”