Issues India need to fix ahead of Australia clash in Womens ODI World Cup 2025
India will take on Australia at the ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam, on Sunday, October 12. Ahead of their first loss of the tournament, India will look to fix some issues before the Australia clash. Here's a look at some key issues:
New Delhi: India haven't got the perfect start to the ongoing Women's ODI World Cup despite winning two out of three games so far in the tournament. India defeated Pakistan and Sri Lanka in their first two matches, but their clash against one of the favorites, South Africa, didn't go their way, and they were handed a reality check by the Proteas side.
India were performing below par in all the matches, but the opposition's inability of not put pressure on big teams helped them to win games against small teams. But when South Africa were against India, and they were nearly losing the game, Narkine de Klerk stepped up and single-handedly took the game away from India's hands.
Issues need to be fixed ahead of Australia clash
1. Top-order failure
India's order came with a run-fest in Australia's series before the World Cup, but from the first match, the Women in Blue's top-order never clicked in any game so far in the tournament. The numbers can tell the whole story of the top order's failure.
Pratika Rawal scored just 105 runs in three games, India's ace batter, Smriti Mandhana, who had a remarkable run this year, has managed just 54 runs in three outings. Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur scored 49 runs, and Jeminah Rodrigues has just 32 runs in the tournament.
Mandhana hasn't found form yet and struggled for fluency in the tournament with back-to-back failures. Harmanpreet and Rodrigues were the pillars of India's middle-order, but they also faltered under pressure and have yet to make a base for the lower-order batters in any game.
2. Bowling combination
India are playing with two proper bowlers and three all-rounders, which didn't give them reliability in the bowling attack. Jeminah was sick in the first game and skipper Harmanpreet replaced her with a bowler, but when she came back into the squad, India haven't picked a proper bowler in the playing XI.
Renuka Singh played the match against Sri Lanka and finished the game with frugal figures of 0/29 in 10 overs, but in the next game, Renuka was replaced by Amanjot Kaur, who is a batting all-rounder. India lost the South Africa game because they failed to sum up the Proteas' batting line-up.
Before the World Cup, when India were playing with six bowling options, they ultimately bowled out the World Champions on just 190 in the second ODI, but now, with five bowling options, including all-rounders, it has been one of the issues that India need to fix.
3. Left-arm spin threat
Indian batters' performance against left-arm spin in the subcontinent have been one of the concerning areas for the management. In the first game, Sadia Iqbal bowled six tight overs in her second spell, which put pressure on India and from the other end, her teammates sent Indian batters back to the pavilion. She conceded just a boundary in her spell.
In the second game against Sri Lanka, Inoka Ranaweera produced one of the best overs of the ongoing World Cup as she dismissed three Indian batters in just five balls, including Jeminah's golden duck, Harleen Deol and Harmanpreet's dismissal.
South Africa's Nonkululeko Mlaba destroyed India's batting order as she set the tone early on by dismissing Mandhana in her first spell. Later, she trapped Harleen in her second spell and caused trouble for the Indian batters in the game.
The warning will turn red as India's next two fixtures are against giants Australia and England. Sophie Molineux will look to carry forward India's weakness against left-arm spin in the Australia clash. Whereas, world-class Sophie Ecclestone will boost the chances of England in the clash against India.