BENGALURU: With key India batter Harmanpreet Kaur not available due to a thumb injury for the second ODI against Australia on Friday, all eyes will once again be on Shafali Verma, Smriti Mandhana and Mithali Raj. The trio has done the business, scoring quality runs at this level.
But when you come up against a dominant team like Australia, they need to take their game a notch higher. In order to compete against Australians, scoring 250 plus also becomes a must. The first ODI at Mackay being a prime example, where Australia chased India’s score of 225 with ease.
There will be some big pressure, especially on Mandhana, who failed in the first game too. Following which skipper Raj spoke about how she expects experienced Mandhana to score runs. In fact the southpaw has been off colour with the player having scored less than 20 in five of her last nine innings. During that period, she has scored only one half-century as well, which does not augur well for India.
It is imperative for the opener to spring back to form with the 50 over world cup looming large, next year in New Zealand. She is the vital cog for India. Batting coach Shiv Sunder Das has spent time with Mandhana at the nets in the last two sessions, and he is positive of a good show on Friday.
"I had a one on one chat with her and in the last two sessions we have worked hard at the nets. We have addressed the issues, she (Mandhana) is a world-class player and we are backing her ability to get runs for us, and definitely, we will see the difference in tomorrow's game," Das said in a virtual interaction.
Overall, various other points, like running between the wickets, the need to score around five runs per over in the middle overs, strike rotation has been discussed too with the Indian players. If India are to do well, openers' -- Mandhana and Verma -- role becomes critical as they lay the foundation for the middle order batters to come in and play pressure free cricket.
"In the nets we have tried a few things. It's about the individual, how they react to the game, especially at the start of the innings. We have Shafali and Smriti, so basically we are looking at a good start. Obviously last few games we didn't have a good start, but I am very positive as a batting coach that they will put up a good start and once you put up a good start... 60-70 runs in 10 overs, that momentum you can carry into the middle overs."
However, good batting is only half job done, the bowling unit need to find ways to contain and take Australian wickets in order to draw the series level and stop them winning their 26th straight ODI game.