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ENG W vs IND W | 2nd ODI: With problems aplenty, Mithali Raj and Co. take the field to save series

Abhishek Singh

The Indian Women's team was shown a mirror right into their face by England Women in the first ODI of the three-match series as they were beaten hands down and proven inferior in all departments. This is the second series in running where last World Cup’s finalists have been humbled in all departments. They had earlier received a 1-4 drubbing at home by South Africa Women as well. With the 2022 World Cup only months away, the Indian team would not get any better opportunity than this England series to get a taste of conditions and also test their strengths going forward. 

The middle-order problem

The biggest problem of the Indian Women’s team is that the middle order is not firing. Once Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma get out, which is also happening very often, there is no one to provide acceleration in the middle order or to even keep the scoreboard ticking. 

Harmanpreet Kaur has been quiet with the bat as well and that is an altogether different issue as well. To resolve this issue, what the Indian team could do is slot in Jemimah Rodriguez in between Mithali and Punam Raut, both of whom bat together and jam the scoreboard. With her drop and run technique, Rodriguez could still keep the scoreboard running. 

But slotting her in the middle would mean cutting on the bowling resources. So she can either replace Raut or the team could go with the batting abilities of Indrani Roy as the wicket-keeper batter and slot her in among Raut and Raj. Roy has opened at the domestic level and is a versatile batter. 

The fast bowler and finisher problem

Indian skipper Mithali after the loss in the first game said that the Indian team needed fast bowlers to develop early to reduce stress on Jhulan Goswami and that the team needed someone in the role of a finisher. Now, the team has got only four fast bowlers in the squad. So it can either play Arundhati Reddy in the next game, the only untested fast bowler so far, or it can go towards its strength and try and play Poonam Yadav and Sneh Rana in place of Ekta Bisht and Pooja Vastrakar respectively. 

Playing Rana and Yadav would solve two problems. Firstly the team can have three finishers if Roy bats at number three and Raut and Raj are pushed one place below each, making Kaur play at six, Deepti at seven and Rana at eight. Also, Rana has greater control over the ball and can turn it as well, so she would be a better spin option than Bisht. Yadav, with her ability to take the ball away from the batters, can pose threat to the English batting order. 

England Women vs India Women: Match Details

Match Number-02

Date and Time: June 30, 2021, 06:30 pm IST, 01:00 pm GMT, 02:00 pm Local

Venue: The Cooper Associates County Ground Taunton

Broadcast and Live Stream: Sony Sports Network and Sony LIV

Pitch Report

The last time a women’s game was played at the Taunton County Ground was in 2017 during the Women’s World Cup. This is ground that supports chasing as out of the 20 matches, 15 have won batting second. It is going to be a day-night match and hence the chances of swinging ball early on would be there as well. Along with it, the nighttime would pose its own challenges with dew and hence bowling first becomes an even better option. 

Weather Forecast and Toss

With less than a five per cent chance of rain, it happens to be one of the rare occasions, where we might not encounter any interruptions during the game. The humidity will increase as the day progresses and ranges between 62-83% throughout the course of the game. 

With the previous record of the ground in mind and the weather conditions at the display, there would be no second thought about chasing after winning the toss in the minds of the skippers. 

Team News

England Women

There is absolutely nothing that England would like to change about from their previous game. The pacers were on the money, the spinners were great, fielding was perfect and batting was exceptional as well. The only thing that Heather Knight, the skipper would like to have is her form back. She failed on a chance in the last game. 

Probable XI

Lauren Winfield Hill, Tammy Beaumont, Heather Knight (c), Natalie Sciver, Amy Ellen Jones (wk), Sophia Dunkley, Katherine Brunt, Sarah Glenn, Sophie Ecclestone, Anya Shrubsole, Kate Cross

India Women

As described India can really do with at least three changes. Sneh Rana and Poonam Yadav could take the places of Pooja Vatsrakar and Ekta Bisht respectively and Indrani Roy could be tried in place of Taniya Bhatia. 

Probable XI

Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Indrani Roy (wk), Punam Raut, Mithali Raj (c), Harmanpreet Kaur, Deepti Sharma, Sneh Rana, Shikha Pandey, Jhulan Goswami, Poonam Yadav

Dream XI / Fantasy XI team

Tammy Beaumont (c), Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Mithali Raj (vc), Heather Knight, Indrani Roy (wk), Natalie Sciver, Sneh Rana, Anya Shrubsole, Sophie Ecclestone

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