VISAKHAPATNAM: It was about 5.30 PM here at the ACA-VDCA Stadium here on Friday. The Australian team, having landed in the city the day before, had completed their training sessions, while the Women in Blue had arrived for optional practice. After all, less than 20 hours ago, they had just lost a crucial encounter against South Africa at the same venue.
India’s vice-captain Smriti Mandhana was the first to walk on to the field, going through her warm-ups before padding up. Even as the rest — Arundhati Reddy, Renuka Singh Thakur, Radha Yadav and Amanjot Kaur – were warming up, there was an impromptu meeting going on between skipper Harmanpreet Kaur and head coach Amol Muzumdar in front of the dugout. They stood there for more than 20 minutes, having an intense discussion about the skipper’s stance and footwork — that is what it seemed like.
Shortly after, both Harmanpreet and Mandhana were batting together in the nets with Radha, Amanjot, Renuka and Arundhati bowling. As the training continued, watching from afar, one cannot help but think that only two of the four bowlers who had turned up may take the field against reigning world champions Australia on Sunday. At least that is how this team management has been operating so far — fielding five primary bowling options and batting depth up to No. 8/9. It has been the template that captain Harmanpreet and coach Muzumdar have preferred. Going by the playing XIs they have fielded in the last two years, there seems to be a preference for all-rounders while sticking to five bowling options.
Since the beginning of 2024, India have consciously tried to field five bowlers unless forced otherwise. And they believe it has worked well for them as they have won 20 of the 30 games in this period (till Friday). In fact, when asked about fielding only five bowlers, bowling coach Aavishkar Salvi defended their approach. “If you ask me, depending upon the conditions, the team will take a call on the playing eleven, the choice of the playing eleven. If you see the options we have, there are five options, but there are other options within the team who have done so well at the international level; not just economically, but they have also picked up wickets. We have a lot of options within the group,” he said in Colombo before the Pakistan game.
However, there is more to it. Of the 30 games since 2024, India won 10 of the 11 games against Ireland, West Indies, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. Against SENA countries (South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia), India have played 19 and lost nine. And therein lies the issue. Of those 19 games, India fielded five primary bowlers in 16 of them. On only three occasions did they go in with six bowling options — against Australia in New Chandigarh, New Delhi and Perth. In the two home matches, India were forced to play the sixth bowler because Jemimah Rodrigues was injured and had to play Arundhati. Those three games apart, India have made a conscious choice to field five bowlers every single time.
Their part-time bowlers have bowled 33 overs against SENA teams, taking two wickets while going for 6.3 runs per over. This is in contrast to the other teams, where the part-timers bowled 23.5 overs, taking four wickets with an economy of 5.55. It also does not help that they have shuffled around bowlers so much that India have handed 17 debuts to bowlers or bowling all-rounders since 2023. Now, one could argue that nine losses in 19 games against top teams seem like they are on equal footing. However, of the nine, six of the losses came against Australia. Against the other three countries, they understandably have a better record in bilaterals where they face them repeatedly.
The World Cup, however, is a different ball game altogether, as one could see in Visakhapatnam on Thursday. South Africa, a team that struggled to win anything in a bilateral tour last year, launched a calculated counter-attack and took apart India’s five-person bowling attack despite being reduced to 81/5 during a tense chase. With Australia, England and New Zealand next — India need to win at least two — there is no guarantee that it will not happen again. Which is why, Harmanpreet and Muzumdar will have to take a hard look at their strategy and see how they are going to move forward.
As of 8pm, Mandhana and Harmanpreet were done with their batting, with Arundhati and Amanjot doing the drills in the nets. Could this be an indication of something? Will India finally field Renuka, who is expected to play against Australia, along with the five other bowling options? Or is it going to be yet another case of five primary bowlers and part-timers again? Only time will tell.