ICC Women's World Cup 2017: Mithali Raj asks her girls to improve their fielding ahead of the clash with Pakistan

The captain is not too pleased with her side’s fielding 

What’s the story?

India skipper Mithali Raj feels that her side can improve in terms of their fielding, especially catching, ahead of their big clash against Pakistan at Derby today. The skipper had emphasised on the same after her troop trounced West Indies in their second group game.

"We need to work on our catching, fielding is very crucial and it can win us matches. I'm very pleased with the way the girls responded with crucial run-outs against the West Indies even though there were a couple of lapses in the field (drops)," Raj said.

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Asmavia Iqbal spoke about the pressure of playing the arch-rivals.

“We are looking forward to the next game, whole Pakistan. In Pakistan they say that you have to win against India, it is very important. We took some positives (from the game against England),” quipped Iqbal. "Our fast bowling did well, Ayesha played well. But there are many areas to improve, especially fielding, which is letting us down. If we field well, we can beat any team."

In case you didn’t know...

India have won both their matches played so far, against England and West Indies. The Indian spinners were outstanding on both occasions, and young Smriti Mandhana top scored in both games with scores of 90 and 106 respectively. However, Raj was not too happy after the seven-wicket win over the Windies, saying she noticed a number of lapses in the fielding department.

The heart of the matter

Meanwhile, Pakistan all-rounder Asmavia Iqbal has backed her team to get the better of arch-rivals India. The women in green have still not got off the mark in the tournament, after losing to South Africa and England consecutively. The game is thus do-or-die for Pakistan, which makes them a big threat on the day.

In ODIs, India have beaten Pakistan in 8 out of their last 9 games, the solitary loss coming last year in the ICC World T20 in India when the visitors won by two runs in a down to the wire game. Asmavia further said that if opening player Ayesha Zafar can build a good start, the rest can capitalise on it.

What’s next?

If India beat Pakistan at Derby, they will be in prime position to seal a place in the semi-finals. Although Pakistan lost both their games of the tournament so far, a must-win situation can see them putting up a different performance on the day.

Author’s take

Gone are those times when India vs Pakistan in cricket was only a men’s game. Pleasingly, there is a lot of buzz and excitement for the game between the women on both sides of the border. And in a high-voltage clash as this, irresponsible lapses in the fielding will not be excusable.