When India’s women’s cricket team begins its quest for an elusive ICC World Cup trophy with the first match against arch-rivals Pakistan on Sunday. It will be hoping that its bowlers find top form to complement a strong batting unit’s efforts.
India, who finish second in both the 2017 and 2005 World Cups, are eager to go one step further and win the title that has eluded them, particularly skipper Mithali Raj and veteran pacer Jhulan Goswami. Who will be playing their final World Cup.
The Indian team arrival in New Zealand a month ahead of schedule to get use to the weather.
The bowlers, on the other hand, struggled in comparison to the batting unit, which scored more than 250 runs five times in seven 50-over matches. Including two warm-up matches.
The bowling unit let India down throughout the series against New Zealand, which India lost 1-4. It failed to defend 270+ targets in two games, and conceded a massive 191 in 20 overs in a rain-shortened ODI match.
They did much better in the fifth ODI and the two warm-up games, and Raj will be hoping that both the batting and bowling units can perform in unison.
Women’s World Cup: India’s women begin their quest for the elusive trophy with a match against Pakistan in the tournament opener.
In the pre-match press conference, Raj said, “All we can take from the previous series or warm-up games is confidence.” “It’s just very important how you negotiate the conditions in the middle. How you play according to the situation.”
The pace department will be led by Goswami, who has continued to pick up wickets for India on a regular basis. While Meghna Singh, Pooja Vastrakar, and Renuka Singh will have to do more to support the veteran quick.
Deepti Sharma took the most wickets in the bilateral series. While Rajeshwari Gayakwad looked good in the warm-up games, but consistency will be key.
It remains to be seen whether Raj will pass the ball to Harmanpreet Kaur.
When Kaur, a vital cog in the side and a big-match player. Found herself among runs after a long dry spell. The team would have breathed a sigh of relief.
The onus will be on opener Shafali Verma. Who has looked out of sorts recently, to provide a solid start alongside Smriti Mandhana, a batter in fine form.
Deepti, who has been in excellent form with the bat and ball, will bat at number three or four. While Kaur will bat at number five, according to Raj, who has continued to anchor the Indian innings.
Rich Ghosh is expect to start ahead of Taniya Bhatia after scoring back-to-back half-centuries against New Zealand.
Pakistan, on the other hand, is the tournament’s lowest-ranked team. After the qualifiers were cancel in the middle of last year due to COVID-19. They qualified for the World Cup based on their ranking.
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Pakistan’s best-ever World Cup finish came in 2009, when they reached the Super 6 stage after finishing last three times. They’ll be hoping to advance to the knockout rounds this time around.
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Bismah Maroof and his teammates have also won back-to-back warm-up matches. They defeated New Zealand before defeating Bangladesh.
[…] “Axar was the first choice but need to recover, so Kuldeep was a back-up,” a BCCI source told PTI. […]