Raipur -: India will look to majorly refine their T20 game when the era of new captain Smriti Mandhana begins with a three-match series against a zealful Zimbabwe here Friday. It will be the first time India and Zimbabwe face each other in a bilateral series. India recently reaffirmed their dominance at the Asian level but they remain very much a work in progress in in-ternational cricket, especially in the shortest format.
The back-to-back premature exits in the T20 World Cup have exposed chinks in their ar-mour. India need improvement in all three departments of the game if they are to consistently challenge the likes of Australia. India won a path-breaking ODI World Cup at home last year but lifting the inaugural Women’s Champions Trophy at home early next year would be a tougher task. On the batting front, the team is struggling to maintain momentum in the middle overs following the fly-ing starts provided by Mandha-na and Shafali Verma.
The number three spot has become a case of musical chairs and the form of Mandhana’s predecessor, Harmanpreet Kaur, has been a concern for a while. Now playing as a spe-cialist batter in the side, Har- manpreet will be under more pressure to deliver. India also need to groom more power hit-ters to support Richa Ghosh in the lower-order.
The fielding has let the team down on a number of occa-sions and needs significant improvement. In the bowling department, the recent rise of Nandni Sharma has been a big positive but overall the pace attack needs more potency to strike regularly in all phases of the game. Spin has been India’s strength traditionally with the young Shree Charani standing out. Oflate, veteran all-rounder Deepti Sharma has troubled the batters with her off-spin. For regular breakthroughs in the middle overs, leg-break bowler Prema Rawat needs to be given an extended run to flourish.
India: Smriti Mandhana [C], Shafali Verma [VC], Niki Prasad, Harman-preet Kaur, Anushka Sharma, Richa Ghosh [WK], G Kamalini [WK], Deepti Sharma, Prema Rawat, Shree Charani, Nandni Sharma, Kranti Gaud, Arundhati Reddy, Jintimani Kalita, Minnu Mani. Zimbabwe: Josephine Nkomo (c), Beloved Biza, Chipo Mugeri-Tiripano, Kelis Ndhlovu, Michelle Mavunga, Francisca Chipare, Olinder Chare, Kudzai Chigora, Nyasha Gwanzura, Nomvelo Sibanda, Loryn Phiri, Chiyedza Dhururu, Mod-ester Mupachikwa, Tendai Makusha, Sharne Mayers.
