CHENNAI: The first time Pooja Vastrakar batted on Indian soil in ODIs, she was slated to bat at nine against Australia in 2018. With India sitting at 113 for seven, there were not a lot of expectations from the then 19-year-old, but she put up a brave fightback and scored her maiden half-century which included eight boundaries. A delightful little knock took India past 200 in Vadodara, even though it was never going to be enough against the Australians. At that time, Vastrakar's knock came on the back of a collapse where India continued to lose wickets at regular intervals.
Almost five years and a World Cup cycle later, Vastrakar did the same, batting in the same position, against the same opposition. However, this time the surroundings were different. At the Wankhede Stadium, batting without their vice-captain and one of the most reliable players in the top order, Smriti Mandhana, India went on to score their highest score (282/2) against Australia in the format.
When Vastrakar walked in, India had lost two quick wickets and Jemimah Rodrigues was struggling physically to get through her innings. The Madhya Pradesh all-rounder survived a DRS appeal. From that, Vastrakar went to do what she was supposed to. She went after Megan Schutt to bring India's 200. It also gave a breather to Rodrigues before both of them went on a counterattack. The pair helped hosts add 82 runs in the final ten overs.
Rodrigues and Vastrakar had always possessed the talent and ability to bat the way they batted but in the first ODI, there was no collapse around them. Rodrigues came into bat after a solid foundation laid by Yastika Bhatia, who missed her half-century by just one run. The Mumbai local could play her shots and bat her way because there was no responsibility to keep the inning floating. India's batting, even without Mandhana, lasted till nine with three left-handers in the playing XI.
For a team that has struggled with their batting depth and have been susceptible to a collapse, systematically making use of their resources is a major box ticked going forward. Whenever, in the past, they have scored a challenging total batting first, the majority of the contribution has come from the top-order and the middle-order had just hung up enough to make a statement. In the progression of the innings, it looked like there was some intent with every batter who walked in.
What made this batting approach, led by Rodrigues, even more remarkable was the amount of runs that came after the fall of the top four. While the top four collectively contributed just 91 runs, including single-digit scores from Shafali Verma and captain Harmanpreet Kaur, the middle-order poured in 191 runs, which was a rare sight. This also meant the India middle-order kept the Australian bowling line-up on their toes and forced them to think of alternate plans. Deepti Sharma (21) and Amanjot Kaur (20) could have potentially gone gung-ho from the get-go, given the available launching pad and struggling Rodrigues. But that is something the team management can work on.
Will this work every time? It may not. Will it work when they play outside of Mumbai and in conditions that are unknown to them? Potentially. Will that solve the age-old problem of collapse? It's too early to say. It will be interesting to see how this batting line-up shapes with the inclusion of Mandhana at the top of the order, alongside Verma, who is going through a lean patch with the bat. For now, that is how India roll. The batting depth till nine may not be the solution to all of their woes, but going into the World Cup years, at least one box is ticked. Many other challenges are waiting for head coach Amol Muzumdar, with the result not going their way, but if this batting performance was an indication, he and the team would take numerous positives from it.
Brief scores: India 282/8 in 50 ovs (Jemimah Rodrigues 82, Pooja Vastrakar 62 n.o.; Georgia Wareham 2/55) lost to Australia 285/4 in 46.3 ovs (Ellyse Perry 75, Phoebe Litchfield 78; Renuka Singh Thakur 1/30)