India’s Women’s World Cup campaign faces the risk of going from bad to worse as they get ready to face the mighty Australians in Visakhapatnam on Sunday.
It’s not that the Aussie side, captained by Alyssa Healy, cannot be beaten. But India are already scarred, having been shocked by South Africa in their last game. The question therefore is, will Harmanpreet Kaur’s India be in the right frame of mind to ace the Aussie challenge?
To pass the test, India will mainly need to pull up their socks in the bowling department. The current Indian bowling line-up contains two right-arm pacers (Karnti Gaud, Amanjot Kaur), two off-spinners (Deepti Sharma, Sneh Rana) and a left-
arm spinner (Sree Charani). South Africa exposed the chinks in this attack. The Australians can tear it apart.
India’s batting hasn’t been blemish-free either. They have real quality and the Smriti Mandhanas need to pull out their best shows in this home World Cup.
Rival skipper Healy, however, believes India have a strong team and so preferred to give them due respect.
“I’ve said it previously that I feel like they (India) have been almost a sleeping
giant in the women’s game for a long period of time. They’ve figured out a style
of play that they want to use, especially in this format. They’re really sticking to that,” Healy said.
But the Aussies will still be the favourites. They enjoy a 48-11 head-to-head record in Women’s ODIs against India.