Follow UsVeda Krishnamurthy, who was part of the Indian team that took part in the 2017 Women’s World Cup, has urged skipper Mithali Raj to play at No.3 at the 2022 World Cup in New Zealand starting on March 4. Mithali has batted at four in all three matches against New Zealand in the ongoing bilateral ODI series with Yastika Bhatia slotting in at three, while vice-captain Harmanpreet Kaur has batted at five.
Veda has urged the team to reconsider and have Mithali at three and Harmanpreet at four.
“I am very interested to see how the squad does in the New Zealand series considering we didn't have Smriti (Mandhana) in a couple of them,” Veda said on Cricket.com’s World Cup Chronicles.
They have done reasonably well against England and Australia, but they have not won it. So, World Cup, you play different teams everyday. You need to make sure you have the best combination on that particular day. So, that's something I am excited to see.
“I’m a big fan of Mithali Raj, so I would say 'Please bat at No. 3. You have done well at No. 4 but India needs you at No. 3.'
“I can even start this campaign on Twitter - #MitahliatNo3. But I don't understand the idea behind her batting at four. I think she did really well at three in the last World Cup. I do not know why they don't want to go back to the formula which has done so well for India.
“If you look at their stats, Mithali and Harman at three and four (respectively) have done so well for India considering Richa Ghosh and Deepti Sharma will occupy that five and six slots. The strike-rate issue will be solved. Batting at thee, Mithali gets enough time and she is a batter who covers up in the end.”
In her six World Cup matches in 2017, Veda smashed 153 runs at an impressive strike-rate of 112.50, but India fell short of clinching their maiden title against England in the final. She also scored a 34-ball 35 in the final, before a top-edge to mid-wicket cut her innings short with India needing 29 runs more from the final 32 deliveries.
While many believed India would have cruised home with her at the crease, Veda says she has no regrets with the shot selection she made that day.
Speaking of her dismissal, Veda says, “It was very disheartening. I still meet a lot of people who say we would have won the game had I stayed.
“Don't regret what happened because eventually, I feel it was about execution which I was not able to do that day. Shot selection, I'd still say play the same shot if you put me in that situation considering there was no fielder there.
“The dynamics were such that we still had Jhulan (Goswami) and Shikha Pandey to walk in. I had the feeling that I should not let the required run-rate go above six. I knew if O got that to seven or eight and then got out, it would have been really difficult.
“But I thought we were in a pretty comfortable position that I could do it. But it just unfolded in such a way that I look like a villain now.”
India eventually lost the final by nine runs but what happened afterwards was something that surprised Veda.
“We left (England) in batches. When the first group reached, it was Harman and Smriti's lot. We started getting messages on WhatsApp. There were crazy amount of people at the airport with press people, with people coming to cheer us. This is not something we expected. We thought it would be normal - like how go to an empty stadium, people will not even know who it is.
“We knew it would be the same for our group as well because we had Mithali travelling. We were trying to mentally prepare ourselves.
“The most interesting part is that the first lot landed at 5 AM. To see hundreds of people at the Mumbai airport was very surprising. We at that moment felt we have done something great here.
“When we landed, it was like how we see men's cricketers - we are literally dodging the people there, we are telling that we are coming out from a different gate, they are waiting there and then we sneak through from behind - that was new. No one had expected that.
“When we left (from India) Mithali and the coach had that press conference, there were only three or four journalists who were there. When we came back, entire Mumbai was there for the press conference.”