India women batters must solve dot-ball problem | Cricket News – Times of India
[ad_1]
A bunch of lessons and takeaways look from the three-match series which England won 2-1…
DOT-BALL MISERY: Chasing an imposing 197 in the first game, India had 51 dot balls.Simply put, eight and half overs went scoreless. In the second match, the Women in Blue were bowled out for 80 in 16.2 overs. Again, 53 balls, just one delivery short of 9 overs, weren’t scored off.
SUB-PAR STRIKE RATES: None of the top six batters – Shafali Verma (116), Smriti Mandhana (100), Jemima Rodrigues (85), Harmanpreet Kaur(114), Richa Ghosh (108), Deepti Sharma (93) – had a 120-plus strike rate in the series. In comparison, Amy Jones, Nat Sciver-Brunt and Danni Wyatt all had 140-plus strike rates. Even the T20 career strike rates of the India batters needs improvement. Offie Deepti is India’s most reliable bowler but the team needs more innovative and risk-taking batters at the top. Running between the wickets too lacked aggression. Shafali was reluctant to run hard even when chasing 197.
UNSURE AGAINST SPIN: Barring one or two occasions, the batters showed a marked reluctance to step out of the crease. Getting stuck proved disastrous, especially in the second game when the England spinners bundled India out for 80. India were at sea negotiating the offie (Charlie Dean), the left-arm spinner (Sophie Ecclestone) and leg-spinner (Sarah Glenn), who looked more incisive than their Indian counterparts.
ABSENCE OF A GOOD SECOND PACER, LEGSPINNER: India made early breakthroughs in all three games courtesy Renuka Singh, whose sharp inswingers fetched her seven wickets. But both Pooja Vastrakar and the young Titas Sadhu were taken for runs. Also with Poonam Yadav out of the squad, the team was missing a quality legspinner.
NO PART-TIME BOWLERS IN ACTION: Captain Kaur hasn’t bowled a single over in the past 28 T20 games for India. However, playing for Melbourne Renegades in the BBL, she bowled her off-breaks in five games. Shafali, whose 3/15 fetched India a victory against Bangladesh in Mirpur last year, wasn’t used either. True, India have a good spinner of the same variety in Deepti, but part-timers should be employed too.
POOR FIELDING AND CATCHING: Regulation catches were dropped, stumpings missed. The ground fielding, especially in the first game, was woeful leading to 197, 20 more than India had ever chased.
BETTER USE OF DRS: India need to be more discerning and judicious in their use of DRS. In the second match, both Smriti and Harmanpreet took the DRS when they looked plumb leg-before. So did Jemima in the third game.
PERSIST WITH PERFORMING NEWCOMERS: Left-arm spinner Saika Ishaque and young off-break bowler Shreyanka Patil bowled well, claiming five wickets each. Patil is also a good fielder. Allrounder Amanjot Kaur displayed poise under pressure.
