Head coach Ramesh Powar has said that Indian women team's batting in the middle-overs needs to improve ahead of next year's Women's World Cup. He said the batswomen need to learn to rotate strike, which they failed during the losses in the ODI and T20I series in England. India lost both the limited-overs series by 2-1 margin to lose the multi-format series 10-6.
"Middle-overs batting, after powerplay in ODIs [is a concern]. That is where strike rotation and conversion rate of dot balls to runs after you get set is key. We played a Test after seven years, and we have lots to learn," Powar told media after Thursday's third and final T20I which India lost by eight wickets.
"But in T20s, we need to score 160-plus to put pressure on other teams. If we must play the World Cup in New Zealand, we need good fast bowlers and try to up the conversion rate in the middle overs. Mithali [Raj] is batting very well. But we need support where we can put a little bit of pressure on opponents to get to above 250," added Powar.
The former India off-spinner also said that India needs a pool of fast bowlers ahead of the World Cup that will take place in New Zealand in the months of March and April, 2022.
"Honestly, we have learnt many things. We have to have match time. We need to play some games before the World Cup. In the fast-bowling department, only Jhulan [Goswami] performed. There has to be some support for her. So, we are looking to enhance the fast-bowlers department," said Powar in the post-match press conference.
Powar further said, "We are looking to add some bowlers. If we are going to get a camp after this tour, we will start working on them. In the seven months, we want to create a pool of fast bowlers. We already have five in the team. We are looking at five more. So, 10 bowlers to work on for the next few months and we will get the results."
After losing the multi-format series to England 10-6, India's next assignment is a multi-format tour to Australia, starting from 19 September.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)