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Now at fifth place in the points table, India need to get their wrongs right with matches against defending champions England and six-time winners Australia coming in the upcoming week. But it is easier said that done as West Indies have been the surprise giant killers of the tournament, defeating New Zealand and England by three and seven runs respectively in their first two matches.
Against Pakistan, India were in tatters at 114/6 before Sneh Rana and Pooja Vastrakar rescued them with a counter-attacking 122-run partnership. But against a spot-on New Zealand bowling attack, India were never in the hunt to chase 261 and despite Harmanpreet Kaur making 71 off 63 deliveries, India were eventually all out for 198. The number of dot balls played by India in both matches is also a worry and it means that strike rotation has to be brought more into play, which hasn’t happened.
Smriti Mandhana hasn’t been in her usual stroke-play self in both matches while it will be a toss-up between a struggling Shafali Verma and out of sorts Yastika Bhatia for being her partner. Deepti Sharma will have to get more runs at number three, so as captain Mithali Raj.
The decision to get an all-left top-order without being experimented before in international cricket didn’t give the desired runs for India.
In the bowling department, there has been some cheer due to Pooja’s pace and left-arm spin of Rajeshwari Gayakwad.
West Indies, on the other hand, have been on a roll in the World Cup. Defending scores of 259 and 225 to pull off nail-biting victories against New Zealand and England means the Stafanie Taylor-led side is riding high on confidence in all three departments of the game.
Hayley Matthews, Deandra Dottin, Shemaine Campbelle and Anisa Mohammed have been the major architects of the winning juggernaut for the West Indies.
With West Indies gearing themselves up for tougher challenges, the path to victory for India won’t be easy. For that, they will need their batting to click in unison.
(With Agency Inputs)
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