CHENNAI: Shortly after taking up full-time captaincy across formats, Harmanpreet Kaur spoke about how players will have to do a specified role, which is different from what they do for their respective teams in domestic cricket. The question at that point was the fact that the 15-member squad they had picked for the Sri Lanka tour had as many as six top-order batters.
Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Yastika Bhatia, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma and Sabbineni Meghana all opened the batting in the senior T20 league that happened in April. For India, however, apart from the first two, others were spread out from No. 3 to No. 7. “We do have many top-order batters, including three to four of them, who can play as openers.
We all are representing our country and whatever opportunity might come at some point, we must make the best use of it. We have many batters who can play at any position. We will try to give everyone the space to bat where they feel comfortable,” Harmanpreet had said then.
For the Commonwealth Games, the trend continued with them carrying as many as nine players, who open the batting in domestic cricket. While some of them did prosper, like Jemimah in Sri Lanka or Deepti at the CWG, at some point, it did come back to bite them. When batters, who tend to take time before accelerating, didn’t click, it cost them runs in the death overs. In the gold medal match, India lost from a position where they needed 17 runs from 12 balls with four wickets in hand.
“We keep making these mistakes (losing from a position of strength),” said a disheartened Harmanpreet after the match. While there were different emotions from different players while standing on the podium, the one who wasn’t clearly pleased was the skipper. She confirmed as much in a press conference on Tuesday as they leave for England to play three T20Is and three ODIs, starting from September 10.
And despite picking six top-order batters in the squad, it seems like they have taken the first step towards role specific players rather than based on the runs accumulated. Something that is crucial for any team to dominate the shortest format. The selection of Dayalan Hemalatha and Kiran Navgire, and the return of Richa Ghosh could be a positive move in that direction. “We were lacking in the area because we didn't have those batters in the side. We have added two more extra batters (Navgire and Hemlatha). I've seen the way they batted in the domestic season. We can work on these two players who have got that skill-set. They can bring a lot to the team,” said Harmanpreet.
While Navgire did open for Nagaland in the senior T20 league, the India skipper seemed impressed with her big hitting in the Women’s T20 Challenge where she batted in through the middle-overs, smashing a 34-ball 69 at No 3. Hemalatha, on the other hand, was the star for Railways at No 5 with a strike rate of 150.27.
With Harmanpreet, Richa and Pooja Vastrakar, India might want either or both of these two to form a formidable middle-order that can attack from ball one. Something that is essential with a series of T20I matches they are set to play in the lead up to the World Cup in February 2023. “Before the World Cup, if they can get equal chances, then you have a fair idea to select the team. We will definitely try some new things and at the same time give equal opportunities so we can make a good team,” the 33-year-old signed off.