NEW CHANDIGARH: As Beth Mooney and Phoebe Litchfield helped Australia chase down a total of 282 without breaking a sweat in the first ODI at the New PCA Stadium, one thing seemed clear. India were at least 30 runs short as captain Harmanpreet Kaur would admit later and their cautious approach came back to bite them.
Then there were the dropped catches which did not help either. However, underneath all that, one of the phenomena that has gone rather unnoticed is this team management's preference to pack the five-person bowling attack with spinners. On Sunday, Kaur fielded as many as four frontline finger spinners with a lone seamer in Kranti Goud, who made her ODI debut only a few months ago. They did so while having Arundhati Reddy, Renuka Singh and Sayali Satghare in the squad.
Granted Sayali is not a part of the World Cup squad, and Renuka is coming back from a long injury layoff, but against the Australian team fielding a youngster such as Kranti as the lone seamer did not seem ideal. And it proved costly as well, with Kranti going for 55/1 in eight overs.
Adding to the fact that India only fielded five specialist bowlers, they were starting behind the eight ball in an attempt to catch up. This, however, is not a new phenomenon. Over the years, Kaur, as a captain, has established her preference to have batting depth and six-seven spin options, including multiple part-timers such as herself, Jemimah Rodrigues,Pratika Rawal and Harleen Deol and Shafali Verma in T20Is. Though the team has gotten away with it on occasions against opponents who are susceptible to spin, this Australian team is a beast. They have been the thorn in the flesh for Indian women over the years, especially in knockout games. They bat till ten, have at least seven genuine bowling options and are almost invincible on any given day.
Sunday was no different as Mooney and Litchfield made a mockery of Indian bowling, rotating strike and picking up boundaries with ease. Sure, the dropped catches helped, but the question here is, did India field their best possible bowling attack on a good batting pitch? The answer is a resounding no.
Deepti Sharma said that some days things don't work out even when they try to execute the plans, and Sunday was one such occasion. "When we practise, our role is clear. We know what phase of the ball we are bowling. Everyone knows their role. As a bowling unit, we try to apply what we have discussed in the meetings. We don't overthink. We try to help each other in situations. Sometimes when you go to play a match, the wicket is different to what you saw on the day before," she said on Tuesday.
Now, one could argue that the pitches might not be as batting-friendly during the World Cup, where India will have the services of all-rounder Amanjot Kaur and Arundhati, along with Renuka. However, two of them are coming off an injury break and will have to be carefully managed, especially Renuka. Which means, more often than not, expect India to field a spin-heavy line-up.
Wednesday, though, might be different. Renuka was seen doing long fielding drills and could take part in the second game on Wednesday. And it seems likely that they will not play her as a lone seamer and bowl her into the ground. Whether it is Arundhati or Kranti, expect one of the other seamers to assist Renuka in the second ODI. Which means, one of Radha Yadav or N Sree Charani is likely to make way for Renuka. How it goes and whether Renuka is able to stay on the field and in the heat for 50 overs, bowling ten overs will determine the way forward for India. For now, one thing is clear. India will have to figure out a way to play more than five genuine bowlers, which includes at least two pacers. The sooner they finalise the combination, the better it is for them.