ICC Women’s World Cup 2017: 5 areas where the Indian Women’s team needs improvement
Despite a heartbreaking end to what was an outstanding journey, in many ways the recently concluded ICC Women’s World Cup 2017 is just what Indian women’s cricket and the country needed.
The near winning run has allowed the stars to become more popular, something that wasn't necessarily the case prior to the tournament. A certain Harmanpreet Kaur, on behalf of her team, showed that these women had it in them to tear apart any bowling attack. And Deepti Sharma, still a teenager, has become an integral part of the team and has could be part of something special in the next decade. If not anything else, the recently concluded edition of the WWC has certainly made the country appreciate and respect women’s cricket more.
And needless to say, the team will certainly believe more in themselves and will look to better their performances in their bid to end their wait for a World Cup. The successful campaign is a shot in the arm that Indian women’s cricket needed.
But, with all the positive things aside, there still are a few areas that need to be addressed. Having just come out of a mega event, the teams knows their strengths and weakness better than ever. And the loss to England in the final could be a blessing in disguise in a way because it allows us to concentrate more on the areas of improvement.
We look at five key aspects where Indian women’s team needs to improve.
#1 Need to work on catching and fitness
While the ground fielding has seen lot of improvement, there were quite a few dropped catches. As the saying goes, catches do win matches. And on the other hand, dropping catches can cost you matches.
Same applies to the fitness level of the players as well. Compared to what it was few years ago, there has been a noticeable improvement but not enough to compete at the highest level.
Tashur Arothe, the coach of the Indian women’s team, went on to say that the team were good with the bat and ball but needed improvement in fielding. He had also opined that the fitness is a key factor as it has a direct impact on your fielding.
Upon his request, a fielding coach was appointed in the month of May in form of Biju George by the BCCI. It is evident that the team recognises the need for improvement and is putting in the hard yards to improve themselves.