Women's World Cup: India's misfiring top order a concern

VISAKHAPATNAM: India’s top-order collapses in the women’s World Cup are becoming a cause for concern. After three matches, India with two wins and a loss, are yet to click as a batting unit. India were reduced to 124/6 against Sri Lanka and 203/7 by Pakistan. It was action replay here against South Africa, who had them on the mat at 102/6.

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Smriti Mandhana has struggled with her timing in the World Cup. In three matches, she has paltry returns of 54 runs. Captain Harmanpreet Kaur (49), Jemimah Rodrigues (32), Pratika Rawal (105) and Harleen Deol (107) are all in the same boat. Richa Ghosh (131) and the likes of Sneh Rana and Amanjot Kaur have spared India’s blushes.



Richa was unfazed by the misfiring top order. “They’re all very good players. One match doesn’t define them. Anything can happen in cricket; it’s our job to do our best every time. You can’t always put the blame on the top order. We’ll sit down and review — see how we can keep learning every day. One game won’t change our mindset. We’ll stay positive. Whatever lessons we got from this match, we’ll carry them forward,” she added.


The lack of enterprise at the top — India’s opening stands have been 14 (vs SL), 48 (vs Pak) and 55 (vs SA) — is impacting the batters that follow, resulting in poor strike rotation and inability to find boundaries. Add to it the Indian batters’ failing against left-arm spinners. In fact, they have lost 12 wickets to left-arm spin, most by any team, in the tournament so far.

Jemimah, who succumbed to left-arm spin on all three occasions reckoned that having a leftarm spinner is a big advantage in any side. “Especially with the conditions that we’ve got in Guwahati, in Sri Lanka, it’s always an advantage for a left-arm finger spinner. “As batters, we just keep practising. We don’t think too much about it, just keep our plans simple, just know what to do well, and I think things fall in place.”