According to Herman Preet, Rodriguez will remain in the team’s plans, but including Harleen in the mix will give India flexibility when it comes to options
After India lost 4-1 to Australia in the T20I home series, Harmanpreet Kaur said deepening the seam bowling sector will be key going forward. The fast bowler will be a star when India flies to South Africa next month for a try-series, also against the West Indies, and plays the T20 World Cup in February, also in South Africa.
With Pooja Vastrakar injured, Meghna Singh, Renuka Singh and Anjali Salvani were the main fast pacers of the Indian team. Renuka and Salvani played all five matches, but Meghna was dropped after conceding 41 runs in three wicketless overs in two matches.
“In South Africa, Seam will have a bigger impact than spin bowling,” stressed Hermanpreet after Tuesday’s fifth T20I defeat by 54 runs. “That’s why we started with Meghna, but sometimes the players don’t perform as expected.
“Pooja will join the team (once he recovers) and fill that space. We are working on it and will try to cover those areas. ”
In addition to right-handers Arundhati Reddy and Simran Bahadur, India also have left-handed quicks Monica Patel (who achieved his two ODIs against South Africa last year) and Suraddha Pokharkar as net bowlers. was included in the series.
However, they were without a bowling coach during the series after Ramesh Power, the former head coach who oversaw bowling, moved to BCCI’s National Cricket Academy. It was a high-scoring winning streak. India also surpassed 150 in all but the last game where she was knocked out at 142. Her 6s for a total of 47, a women’s bilateral T20I series record, were hit in five games . The pattern that emerged was that India held Australia to a maximum of 12 overs before losing control. Her economy rate in her last eight overs of the series was 12.26 for her compared to her 9.37 for Australia.
“The first 10 overs are going well and it’s not easy to run, but after the 10 overs things suddenly change,” says Harmanpreet. “We planned a lot but didn’t execute. The first 6 overs were an area we wanted to improve as a team and we are now in the top 6. “From now on, we will analyze who can bowl after 10 overs and death overs.
Renuka, who has a proven power play and the ability to swing the new ball, was used in the deathover against Australia. Her savings rate at this stage she received her only one wicket was 10.87. A few, but most for an Indian bowler who has thrown at least 24 balls in that period.
“[Renuka] is someone who brings a lot of confidence to the side,” she said Harmanpreet. “Whenever the team needs her, she is always ready; and we have always seen her doing well in the first six overs. She really enjoys bowling at the death, and you need a person to raise your hand and say, ‘I like to bowl in the death overs’. She is working hard on her death bowling, and is starting to get the experience now.”
“Harleen is someone who is always ready. It doesn’t matter if you hit every point or just catch,” said Herman Preet. “In the previous match (4th T20I), she didn’t hit, even though she was ready from the start, but she wasn’t upset and was positive (instead). If there is, I want to go there and perform anytime.”
“We all know how important she is and we thought we should give her a break. The batting line is something that T20s cannot fix. I know that Jemmi has been battling for third place for a long time.
“But if the batting formation is flexible, I think that would be good and we would have the opportunity to try more things. I wanted to see her there and gain momentum. It’s really nice to see her approaching with a bat. ”