3 big takeaways for India Women after series loss to Australia
Despite a promising start with a dominant win in the first T20I, the Indian women's team failed to win the series against Australia Women at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai. Alyssa Healy and Co. made a strong comeback to win the final two games and take the ODI as well as the T20I series.
After a dominant win in the Test series, Harmanpreet Kaur and Co. could win just one game in the white-ball leg. This has certainly given them some key areas to focus on. With the Women's T20 World Cup set to be played in Bangladesh in September, the Women in Blue need to address some issues.
On that note, let's take a look at three such factors India need to focus on after the drubbing against Australia:
#3 India need a wrist-spinner
India could only set targets of 131 and 148 in the second and the third T20Is, respectively, which were way under par for the surface. However, the fact that they still managed to drag both the chases till the 19th over showed that the hosts needed to make just a few tweaks in their bowling to be even more competitive.
If the Women in Blue want to turn such games around with the ball, they need more wicket-taking options under their belt and one variety needed is that of a wrist spinner.
The likes of Devika Vaidya and Poonam Yadav were not a part of the squad. Several other talented uncapped spinners will be eyeing a breakout WPL season so that they can get into the Indian team and fill that void.
#2 Who is the finisher?
Deepti Sharma is arguably one of the best T20I bowlers in the game and she was sensational with the ball again in the series against Australia. However, the same cannot be said about her batting, especially as her strike rate has been under the scanner.
The likes of Pooja Vastrakar and Amanjot Kaur are ignored over Deepti for the No. 6 position, a decision that has been baffling, to say the least. India will need to take a call on who will be their No. 6 and an ideal foil to Richa Ghosh, giving her company in the crucial finishing role.
#1 Harmanpreet Kaur's woeful form
Indian captain Harmanpreet Kaur's alarming drop-off in form has been arguably the biggest talking point from the series. After a sensational WBBL season, Harmanpreet was expected to dominate at home.
However, that wasn't the case as despite a half-century against England in the Test, she could only score 17 runs in three ODIs and nine runs in three T20Is against Australia. Such a small contribution from the captain has naturally raised questions over her place in the side as a leader.
The upcoming WPL season will be crucial to see if Harmanpreet can find form. She could be a crucial component of India's batting line-up in the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh, especially given her ability to come good in crunch situations. The team management will be hopeful that the skipper finds form as soon as possible.