India women will be testing all departments before ODI WC: Anjum Chopra ahead of England series

New Delhi, July 15 A spirited maiden T20I series win in England has provided the Indian team a much-needed shot of confidence. But with the three-match ODI series starting on Wednesday in Southampton, curiosity now centers on India’s preparedness for the ODI World Cup they will be hosting alongside Sri Lanka.

India completed a 3-0 clean sweep against England during their last ODI series played in the country in September 2022. Anjum Chopra, the former India captain, feels that the side’s main goal will not be just winning the ODI series again, but also fine-tuning its various combinations for the World Cup.

"If they are looking to become the world champions, then I guess every department is what they’ll be testing - from the middle order to how they’re able to finish in the end, and how their bowlers are able to utilise the conditions, because we are slightly short on the fast bowling department.

"It (absence of first-choice pacers) doesn’t give you that confidence when we look from a distance. But I’m also hopeful of them due to the number of matches they get to play and somehow we’ve seen Indian teams in the World Cups over the past so many years - that they’re able to flick a switch and start doing better,” said Anjum in an exclusive conversation with IANS ahead of the ODI series.

With players like Harmanpreet, Smriti Mandhana, Pratika Rawal, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harleen Deol, and Richa Ghosh, India possesses a formidable batting unit. However, as Anjum previously noted, the bowling attack, particularly the absence of main fast bowlers, continues to be a cause for concern.

Key players Renuka Singh Thakur and Pooja Vastrakar are recovering from varied injuries, though Titas Sadhu will return from her injury layoff during the ‘A’ team’s Australian tour next month. In the trio’s absence, India will heavily rely on all-rounders Arundhati Reddy and Amanjot Kaur to spearhead their pace attack during the ODIs against England.

“It’s sad though. I think again, it’s uncontrollable. But I guess it’s very sad that we’re unable to have all the fit players in form and in time for a crucial tournament. It’s not that the crucial tournament starts tomorrow, we still have time. But this is actually not the best, and not a pleasing sight for anyone at the helm who’s trying to get their best players on the park for an important tournament,” added Anjum.

The absence of a sixth bowling option for ODIs adds to India’s existing concerns about their bowling attack, although Harmanpreet highlighted Pratika as a potential solution.

“That is something that has been there for a long time. We’ve not been able to plug that hole. In this England series, probably, we’re just hoping that the top order batters who’ve been given an opportunity to bowl or other ones should just put their hand up. Otherwise, if you look at top five or six, they’re just not able to roll their arm over and they’re just relying on their one skill, which also is not the best way to go,” added Anjum.

Since the last ODI World Cup in New Zealand in 2022, India has fielded 19 debutants, highlighting the team’s dramatic and frequent personnel changes. Ten of those debutants have been spinners – with Saika Ishaque, Shreyanka Patil, Tanuja Kanwer and now N Shree Charani, the find for India in T20I series win, being roped in based on their performances in the Women’s Premier League (WPL).

Amidst all this, off-spin all-rounder Sneh Rana’s stunning comeback in the ODI tri-series triumph in Sri Lanka was followed by Radha Yadav, coming in for an injured Shuchi Upadhyay, showcasing impressive form in the T20I series victory. While Radha had a useful time in T20I series win, Anjum feels her recall only after Shuchi’s injury highlighted the team’s inconsistent player selection strategy.

“You usually take one person to make a debut. Here we took two to make their debuts in Sri Lanka, and they were going to take them to England. If Shuchi hadn’t got injured, then obviously, they were both on the way to England. If they both didn’t do well, then was the idea that we will not continue with them?”

“So I’m also a little perplexed. I can understand with the fast-bowling department that there are not enough people. So you have to go to the next and then the next lot. So we’ve had Radha Yadav travel with this Indian team for such a long time, before not being with the team.”

“Now she’s coming in after an injury to Shuchi. So somebody who’s not in the scheme of things, then we’ve gone to a debutant, but we’ve now come back to Radha again due to injury. So again, it’s a little thought-provoking. But to be fair, you have to give it to the selectors that whether they had any other option in the mix or not. If they didn’t, then it’s fair enough,” she said.

India’s common combinations in ODIs tend to prioritise batting strength. But once the injured fast bowlers are back, will that again affect the overall combination, especially if the ODI World Cup venues dish out batting friendly pitches?

“Everything is in dark space right now to say that when they come back, who will they come back for? I felt that Amanjot is a great value addition. Then she also had a little bit of an injury. Now she’s back in the team. So that’s a good thing. When does Renuka actually start having game time and is she back to full fitness?”

“If she comes back to full fitness, what is the kind of workload that you can put on her? Because it’s 50 overs of fielding that will be required. There are no impact subs in 100 over cricket. So is she back to full fitness or do we proceed with the ones that we have and how do we balance it out?”

“It’s not the healthiest of happy situations. It’s a challenging situation because that’s what we are left with right now. But whoever is there at this point of time, if they can start taking their opportunities and understanding quickly what their roles are, I think then at least there is some bright spark at the end of the tunnel,” said Anjum.

Giving game time to Yastika Bhatia, who’s been a long-time reserve keeper-cum-batter and didn’t get a game in the T20I series, is another matter to consider. “I would want Yastika to be in the best of form as well. But again, at the end of the day, how good is the fitness level of Yastika to actually come back and take this opportunity back again? Because she’s also been in and out because of injury.”

“She’s come in after working hard, made a comeback into the team and then got injured. I think the last she played was in Australia and she hasn’t been able to play in this Indian lineup. So yes, ideally, you would want her to be in that peak form of fitness.”

“But I would not feel that the Indian team should now be giving any opportunity to anyone. It’s about identifying that who are your 13 or 12 of those players that you are always ready to fall back on in the situation and circumstances and proceed from there on.”

“Because it’s not the time to try out players anymore. It’s a time that you settle in and understand how if you’re scoring runs first, are we crossing 300 plus each time? Then if you’re going out there to defend, are we able to defend 300 with our bowling lineup or not?” added Anjum.

With the World Cup fast approaching, India faces a tough challenge in plugging gaps and perfecting their team strategy before the quadrennial event happens. Time will tell if the nearly 13 remaining games India have will leave them optimally prepared — in terms of personnel and form — for playing the ODI World Cup at home for the first time since 2013.

“In fact, let’s look at this way that in case India is playing a final and then it’s a home World Cup everyone is cheering you on. How many times in a sports person’s career do you actually get a situation like this? So should you feel stressed or should you feel happy that people want you to win and are eagerly waiting for you to perform?”

“I feel that it’s a nice, happy blessed situation to be in that as cricketers you have a home World Cup and people want you to win and you have that nice pressure as well. It’s not about taking a step back. It’s about taking a step forward,” concluded Anjum.

Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor