Fielders’ inability to back up the bowlers hurt the side: Mithali Raj

Indian skipper Mithali Raj, on the back of her team’s close defeat to Australia, rued the inability of the fielders to back up the bowlers, but expressed satisfaction over her side’s solid batting performance. Coming on the back of two defeats in their last three matches, team India fared exceptionally well with the bat in hand, posting 277 against the Aussies courtesy fifties from Mithali, Yastika and Harmanpreet Kaur. 

However, the Meg Lanning-led side chased down the target in the final over with six wickets in hand, and the Aussies were aided by some sloppy fielding from the Indians. Team India misfielded multiple times in the second innings, including in the decisive final over, and the Aussies pounced on it to register a fine win and maintain their 100% record in the ongoing World Cup.

Speaking post the game, Mithali lauded the effort of the batters but conceded that the team had a day to forget on the field.

“When you lose you always feel that you are 10-15 runs short. Maybe the way the Australians started, they were ahead and the fielders did not back the bowlers when it was needed,” Mithali said.

“It was one of those days when the bowling unit didn't do well but they have been for the last four-five games. It has do with the girls playing in the leagues in Australia and with that comes a lot of exposure playing with the best players. Experience helps. The batting came good today but the bowling did take a hit.”

The defeat means that India have lost 3 of their first 5 games, and find themselves in a position where they have to win each of their next two games (vs Bangladesh and South Africa respectively) in order to be assured of a sem-final spot. Mithali described both the Bangladesh and South Africa clashes as ‘must-win’ games for the team.

“The next two games becomes very important and we would look to do well in all departments. We got ourselves in that position but the next two games is a must-win for us.”

It was a bittersweet night for pacer Jhulan Goswami, who was at the wrong end of the result but played her 200th ODI for the country, an achievement for which she was awarded a special cap ahead of the game, by none other than Mithali herself. The Indian skipper lavished praise on the veteran pacer and labeled playing 200 ODIs as an ‘incredible achievement’.

“Incredible achievement for a fast bowler to play over 200 games. It takes a lot of discipline, she is definitely a role model for many young girls back in India,” Mithali said of Jhulan. 

Team India will play their next fixture against Bangladesh at Seddon Park on Tuesday (March 22).