CHENNAI: Three versus Sri Lanka. Three in Australia and three in England. That is how India women's schedule looks in the lead up to the T20 World Cup at the moment. Unless the postponed Bangladesh tour gets reinstated, the Harmanpreet Kaur-led side have as many as nine T20Is to figure out their best possible combinations before their opening game against Pakistan in Edgbaston on June 14.
It is understandable that they do a fair bit of experimentation in the ongoing Sri Lanka series as well as in Australia for the same reason. Although it is a fairly settled squad where at least 12 players pick themselves, figuring out the last three and having back ups in case of any last minute injuries is what India would be working on. In fact, it is one of the reasons why they have called up a 17-year-old G Kamalini. The last thing India would want is to be left stranded as they were when Yastika Bhatia was ruled out of the home ODI World Cup.
There is no doubt at the moment about India's top six. When it comes to all-rounders, pace attack and spinners India continuously test the waters. Which is why Vaishanvi Sharma is in the mix despite NR Sree Charani already being there. Arundhati Reddy is a regular in the set up and Kranti Gaud's rise meant Renuka Singh is not playing every game. For head coach Amol Muzumdar it is all a part of their preparation for the World Cup.
"We tried to be as settled as possible during the ODI World Cup as well. Six months down the line there is a T20 World Cup and we are very well aware of certain things, what we need to do and in what direction we want to take this T20 side," Muzumdar said on the eve of the third T20I against Sri Lanka in Thiruvananthapuram. "Trying out a lot of stuff, making sure that we are well and truly settled before the World Cup."
"We consistently talk about improving in all the three facets of the game. In fact, there is a fourth one now, which is fitness. Nothing in particular about one facet of the game. We are a progressive side, constantly we are trying to improve day by day," he said.
What India will also have to manage is the workload of their pacers as they will be playing the Women's Premier League, then the multi-format series in Australia, which includes a Test match in Perth before the England tour. There, too, they will play a Test at Lord's shortly after the T20 World Cup. As things stand, India have three pacers in the squad, their other regular pace-bowling all-rounder Pooja Vastrakar is in BCCI CoE after a long injury lay-off but is expected to make a comeback in WPL for Royal Challengers Bengaluru. And if she is fit, she is likely to make the trip Down Under.
Which is why, the team management is willing to experiment and while doing enough things right to keep winning. Even in the ongoing series, they chased twice and would want to bat first at some point, but the first priority remains winning. And a win on Friday will help India seal the series, allowing them to experiment a little more in the remaining two games. After all, the last thing they would want to do is figure out combination in the middle of a World Cup as they had to during the title-winning campaign in India.