India captain Mithali Raj’s concerns regarding the team’s batting performance aggravated once again on Wednesday after the Women in Blue paid the price for their shoddy display against defending champions England in their ICC Women’s World Cup 2022.
India were bundled out for 134 by struggling defending champions England, who managed to overhaul the target in 31.2 overs with four wickets to spare at the Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui. This was England’s first win after three consecutive losses that threw their title defence into disarray.
“We definitely didn't have partnerships at the top of order, despite getting what we wanted after losing the toss. The thought of putting 200+, the match could have gone either way,” said Mithali after India’s second loss in the ongoing tournament.
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India have been inconsistent in their batting throughout the tournament so far. Coming into the event after a 4-1 thrashing at the hands of New Zealand, the Indian middle-order crashed like a pack of cards against Pakistan in their campaign opener.
From 96/1, the Indians were reduced to 114/6 in a space of 10 overs, before Sneh Rana and Pooja Vastrakar bailed the team out. Against New Zealand, the scenario didn’t change. Chasing 267, baring Harmanpreet Kaur’s 71, none of the Indian batters got going despite a couple of them getting starts.
Although Mandhana and Harmanpreet got hundreds against West Indies, the likes of Yastika Bhatia, Mithali, Richa Ghosh once again failed to make most of their opportunities. “Every game as a fielding unit we are doing well and we hope to continue to do that.
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“Batting is a concern but we'll try to address that in the next match, we are playing a team that hasn't lost to anyone,” she added about the clash against mighty Australia next which is on March 19. India are currently sitting third in the points table with four points from four games.
The view was echoed by Goswami in the post-match press conference. “Honestly speaking, at this moment, yes our top order, the way we are thinking, they haven't fired but I am sure you will have to be positive about that, because they have done really well in the past,” she said.
“Definitely, we had a plan to play 300 balls, but unfortunately we could not play the full 50 overs. Definitely, we had to pay a price for it. Our target was to reach 240 or 250 at par. If we could have reached there, we could have restricted them,” the right-arm pacer explained
Unlike other teams, India were beneficial in having a lot of competitive match practices leading to the ICC Women’s World Cup 2022. The Mithali Raj-led side played 11 ODIs in 2021 against South Africa, Australia and England winning just three.
The five-game ODI series against New Zealand last month was also organised keeping in mind the players get acclimatised with the conditions ahead of the mega event. According to Goswami, it’s a learning process for the players.
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“Definitely it is a learning process, every day we try to address certain issues, we will definitely solve these issues and come back strongly,” the pace spearhead explained. Prodded further on whether there was any strategy in place to avoid such collapses, she said, “There is no solution to it. It is a process and the game goes like it.”
