India head coach Amol Muzumdar addressed issues about the sixth bowling option in the team combination after the second loss in the World Cup. The latest setback came in Vizag by three wickets against Australia, as the team chased down a massive score of 331 - the highest score in the history of Women's ODIs. Skipper Alyssa Healy led the way with a terrific knock (142 off 107), as the keeper-batter tore the Indian bowling attack, with their depth getting tested and exposed yet again as they were left with no options to stop the right-hand batter.
Lack of sixth-bowling option hurt the Harmanpreet Kaur-led side against South Africa also, as in that game, all-rounder Nadine de Klerk blitzed her way to an unbeaten 84, took her team home with three wickets in hand.
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“Obviously, after this game, I’m sure the team management will have a proper discussion about this, and then we’ll take the right call as we approach the next game,” said Muzumdar in the post-match press conference.
Against South Africa, India were cruising to their third win in the showpiece event, having the side five down for just 81 runs in a run chase of 251. However, de Klerk showed enough courage and continued to attack from word go, which left the Indians gasping for breath. While against Australia, Healy was in the zone from ball one, and took calculative risks.
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Addressed dot-ball concerns during pre-match planning: Muzumdar
Muzumdar also addressed the team's growing concern related to dot balls, mentioning that it has been one of the biggest part in the pre-match planning.
“To be honest, after the previous game — not this one, the one before against South Africa — we had an elongated discussion about how we’re going to approach batting in India. And dot-ball percentage was one of the things discussed. So far, in the last year and a half, we've been playing very aggressively. I thought today was a good display — yes, the dot-ball percentage has come down, but we’ll have a closer look at it. I don’t know what the percentage is — how much is it? 48% — yes, we’d like to get that down,” he added.
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Meanwhile, India's successive losses against Australia and South Africa have left them in a spot of bother as they next take on England on October 19, who are sitting comfortably in the second position on the points table with three wins from three games. The Kaur-led side needs to quickly regroup and get back to winning ways to avoid an embarrassing first-round exit.
