Follow UsHome is supposed to bring you comfort, and comfort comes from a sense of security, which allows you to be who you are.
That’s exactly what was supposed to happen to the Indian women’s team this ODI World Cup. However, so far, despite winning the games against Sri Lanka and Pakistan, the Indian team is far from home in this tournament.
The issue is visible to everyone who has followed the three games India has played so far - Smriti Mandhana has failed to provide big runs at the top in the three games so far, which has brought Pratika Rawal and Harleen Deol together at the batting crease, and inevitably, there has been a proper slowdown of the Indian innings.
In the first game against Sri Lanka in Guwahati, India lost Mandhana in the fourth over, after which Rawal and Deol combined to score 67 runs in 16 overs at hardly four runs/over. The Lankan spinners were all over India, and very soon skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, Deol, and Jemimah Rodrigues were back in the pavilion by the 26th over.
Against Pakistan in Colombo, Rawal and Deol added 19 in 35 deliveries at just above three runs/over after Mandhana was dismissed with the score reading 48/1 in 9 overs. Today, against South Africa, they both played better on a good batting pitch and added 28 in 40 deliveries.
In all these three games so far, the run-rate pressure combined with tight bowling by the left-arm spinners of the three oppositions and India crumbled with wickets falling like a pack of cards in the middle overs.
Once you dig deeper into the problem, the reason behind it is clear — the batters, especially Deol and Rawal, are going into their shell as soon as the powerplay ends and are not manipulating the field enough to force the bowlers to alter their line and length.
Take today’s case, for instance, where left-arm spinner Nonkululeko Mlaba was bowling without any fielder behind point on the off side against the Indian right-handers because she knew Deol and Rawal both don’t play the reverse sweep. In fact, forget the sweep; neither of them didn’t even tried the conventional sweep, which Deol especially plays well.
Moreover, especially in the case of Deol and Rawal, the inability to create angles and manufacture singles has made them feel like sitting ducks at the crease on so many occasions.
The failures of Harmanpreet and Rodrigues have further added to this problem, as both of them are really good exponents of all different kinds of sweeps behind the keeper. However, both have had really poor shot selection so far in this tournament. As a result of all the above issues, the early dismissals of Mandhana have exposed the lack of initiative in the Indian batting lineup, as efforts haven’t been made to deter bowlers from following their set plans.
The left-arm spinners, aided by the slowness of the track, have been able to bowl the lines they want to the right-hand heavy Indian batting lineup and since the Indian batters are happy playing them off the backfoot on most occasions.
A probable solution to this is bringing left-handed Deepti Sharma up in the order by dropping Deol and making her bat at three, which she has done in the past. That would also allow India to play an extra spinner or pacer depending on the surface and finally play a six-bowler lineup, which is crucial against good lineups like South Africa, England, Australia and New Zealand.
However, as of now, it seems that the Indian batters are stuck in their crease due to their own inhibitions and demons. There’s no comfort of home, only the perils of frequent batting collapses, which are troubling them more consistently than they can find singles in the middle.