India Women look to bounce back after ODI series defeat against Australia

NEW DELHI: The last few weeks have been challenging for Harmanpreet Kaur. Even though the Indian team created history by defeating England and Australia in solitary Tests last month, the captain has had a poor outing with the bat in white-ball cricket.

After managing scores of 26, 9 and 6 in the three T20Is against England, Harmanpreet’s woes continued in the just-concluded three-match ODI series against Australia, with a tally of 17 runs.

However, as the home team gears up for the T20I series against the same opponent, beginning on Friday at the DY Patil Stadium, the India captain is leaving no stone unturned to return to form.

Over the last couple of days, she worked with head coach Amol Muzumdar on the mental aspect and ensured she spent enough time in the nets. “Yesterday, we sat down to analyse my last few innings and he (Muzumdar) went through each and every delivery that I faced and wanted to find out what was going on in my mind at that time. He heard me patiently and today, I came and batted for an hour. He’s giving important pointers to each and everyone and all of us are trusting him,” Harmanpreet said.

Just like the captain, the team, too, aims to move on from a humiliating 0-3 defeat in the ODIs, and start afresh. The ODIs exposed India’s fielding vulnerabilities as several catches were dropped in crucial moments, and going ahead, the team needs to ensure it doesn’t repeat similar mistakes.

India’s pace bowlers Renuka Singh Thakur and Pooja Vastrakar struggled in the ODIs, while top batters - barring Jemimah Rodrigues, who had scores of 82, 44 and 25 - could not show resilience. And in a crucial T20I series, the host needs to improve its overall game.

Australia, as admitted by its leg-spinner Georgia Wareham, will look to be ‘ruthless’ against the home team. In the ODIs, young Phoebe Litchfield struck two fifties and a century, while Tahlia McGrath scored three fifties on a trot, and they would be hoping to carry forward that form. Agencies

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