Working with Jhulan Goswami helped me a lot: Renuka Thakur

Renuka Singh Thakur was once again among the wickets. She finished with figures of 4/29 in the third and final One-Day International (ODI) against West Indies in Vadodara and also ended the three-match series with 10 wickets @ 9.9 average as India romped to a 3-0 series win.

Unsurprisingly, she won the Player of the Series award for her performance. However, there were many critics of Renuka leading up to the series, alleging that the pacer is not as effective as she is in the latter stages of the match as she is in the powerplay. However, the Shimla-born pacer said she has been working on the same with former fast bowler Jhulan Goswami, something she revealed helped her a great deal in the series.

"Really happy to see the rewards for all my hard work," Renuka said at the post-match presentation.

"In Australia, we didn't do well, and when I came back to India, the plan was how I can improve and take wickets during my second spell, and I worked a lot with Jhulan [Goswami], and it really helped me a lot."

Even skipper Harmanpreet Kaur was pleased with Renuka's performance. "Really happy to see the way she [Renuka] is bowling. These kinds of games always show how mentally strong you are," Harmanpreet said.

Deepti Sharma, who had picked up just three wickets from the first two matches of the series, finished with 6/31. The off-spinner said she was just waiting for her turn to make an impact with the ball, and was delighted she could do it today.

"I was just waiting for my turn to contribute with the ball. The plan was to give breakthroughs no matter which stage of the innings I am bowling. I always try to read the batter and be ready to adjust my plans accordingly," she said.

Deepti's spell saw West Indies post just 162, largely due to Chinelle Henry's 61 in the third match of the series in Vadodara. Skipper Haylay Matthews admitted that her side were certainly short of runs but was also pleased with the fight they put up in the second innings.

"We were a few runs short, but really good to see the fight in the second half," Matthews said.

"The wicket was quite tricky in both innings, we probably didn't do well with the bat as well as we would have liked. Seeing players like Henry stand up the way she did today, and we got an opportunity to see and test the depth of our squad, which was really nice."