Indian gamers have fun the wicket of Australian batter Phoebe Litchfield through the second ODI match between India Women and Australia Women, on the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, Saturday, Dec. 30, 2023.
| Photo Credit: PTI
India Women’s fielding against Australia in the second ODI was under par, admitted head coach Amol Muzumdar and added that fielding remains a work in progress for the hosts who suffered a ninth consecutive collection defeat against the Aussies.
India fought onerous with the bat after making a number of errors in the sphere — together with seven dropped catches — in the primary half of the match right here on Saturday because the guests received over the road by three runs.
Australia have by no means misplaced an ODI collection in India, a file which Alyssa Healy’s aspect was in a position to preserve regardless of Richa Ghosh placing a fabulous 96 off 113 balls with 13 boundaries, after Deepti Sharma returned a 5 for 38.
“We are in a process of building it up, there is no doubt that our fielding was below par,” Muzumdar informed the media in Mumbai on the Wankhede Stadium.
“We dropped about six catches. It always happens in a game, even they dropped a few. But having said that, we are still a work in progress. If we get time post this series I’m sure we will try and spend a lot of time on fielding and fitness,” Muzumdar stated.
With Ghosh doing a single-handed job in the direction of the tip of India’s chase, the assume tank, maybe, made one other mistake by not sending Pooja Vastrakar forward of Amanjot Kaur as the previous had scored a wonderful 62 not out in the primary ODI.
Muzumdar defended the choice saying that the crew checked out Amanjot as a correct all-rounder at No. 7 and she or he was anticipated to do her half effectively.
“Amanjot, we play her as a proper all-rounder. Her number was at No 7. We stuck to it, we thought that she got a chance in the XI because we believe that she could do the job,” he stated.
“Unfortunately, it didn’t happen. I don’t think there was a need for change in the batting order. At that time, we felt that it was an appropriate one,” he added.
The India head coach additionally defended Deepti who struggled to search out fast runs in the direction of the tip and her gradual method, maybe, contributed to the hostile outcome.
Deepti consumed 36 balls for her unbeaten 24 with only one boundary as she couldn’t speed up at any level.
“At the end of the day, we can all sit and say ‘oh, (by) three runs! We missed out on three runs!’, but there were about 600 balls bowled in that. We can always go back and talk about it in hindsight.
“We fell short by three runs but I would not like to name anyone for the defeat. It’s just a collective effort. Probably one more shot, or one stop in the field could have done the trick,” he stated.
Muzumdar stated the crew is seeking to stick to Ghosh at No 3 for a longer run. “(She played a) fantastic knock — what a knock it was under pressure. At No 3, new position for her and she’s just proven why she’s been spoken about so high.
“Probably, a hundred would have been an appropriate one for her but unfortunately got caught and it was a special knock.
“Richa has been at No 3. We believe that she can be a good top-order player. We believe in her talent and you’ve seen what kind of shots she can play and if she can use the first 10 overs and then play according to the situation,” Muzumdar stated.
