In Australia, there was always some batter taking responsibility: Mithali Raj

Will keep an eye on players’ performance in domestic season, says India captain.

A life between 22 yards for 22 years during which she became India’s Test and One-day International captain and the highest run-getter in women’s cricket has got Mithali Raj a nomination for the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna award. She is the first Indian woman cricketer and the fifth overall, after Sachin Tendulkar, Rohit Sharma, MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli, to have got this honour.

India's Mithali Raj. (AP)

Ahead of the domestic season where she will represent Railways, Raj, 38, explained why she backs Kohli’s team, spoke about India’s tour to Australia and the emergence of young batters ahead of the ODI World Cup in this interview.

Excerpts:

After the loss to Pakistan in the T20 World Cup, how difficult will it be to win against New Zealand?

The India team is a fantastic team. India has done well against Pakistan in the World Cup in the past. So (this defeat), it’s all part and parcel of the game. It doesn’t mean the Indian team is not good or the players are not giving of their best. We also have to understand the margin for error is very less in T20. The longer the format, the percentage of a good team doing well increases and we just played the ICC Test Championship final. They are all professionals and would be coming out with a fresh mindset against New Zealand.

India could not win the ODI, pink-ball Test or the T20 series against Australia in spite of good performances in phases. What are your takeaways from the tour?

I would like to look at India’s showing in Australia holistically. With the ODI World Cup just a few months away, the idea was to be able to sort out combinations, play real competitive cricket and deal with pressure situations. My take on the Australian tour is that it was quite positive. We nearly won the second ODI and played dominantly in the third. If we hadn’t lost one day of the Test match to rain, we probably would have had a result in that too. The best thing was the pacers doing well in suitable conditions, bowlers contributing with the bat and top-order being consistent.

Young India batters like Shafali Verma, Yastika Bhatia, Richa Ghosh, and especially Smriti Mandhana made an impact in Australia. How encouraging was that?

I am very happy with our batting unit. In the ODIs and Test, there was always some batter taking responsibility. This was missing in the England tour. We have been stressing on ‘responsibility’ and finally, we are getting to see the results. Yastika on her first tour was impressive, Richa chipped in with crucial knocks, Shafali did well in the Test and had a solid partnership with Yastika in the third ODI. Smriti was impressive particularly in the pink ball Test match with a wonderful hundred. Things are shaping well.

Eight India cricketers are playing the WBBL T20 competition. How will this help?

Ahead of the ODI World Cup, it’s important that players get preparation and game time. Although the format in WBBL is not the same, game time and confidence is very important for players. Some of the players who are not in the WBBL will get an opportunity to play in our domestic 50-over league which will give them quality match time. There is a lot of cricket at the domestic level in the coming month with league and knockout 50-over games for senior players, challengers for the under-19 and senior sides.

The selectors would be looking at the upcoming one-day tournament with an aim to pick the team for the ODI World Cup.

As captain, I will also have an eye on the tournament, players from other teams, players in the India team, how they are performing. Domestic cricket will provide a good platform.

New pacers like Meghana Singh, Renuka Singh did emerge in Australia and Pooja Vastrakar impressed but the pace bowling attack still revolves around Jhulan Goswami. Do you think special camps at NCA for fast bowlers are needed ahead of the World Cup in New Zealand?

The domestic games are about to begin. There is no better practice than match practice. It is important when we have camps that we gel as a team. Therefore, doing camps together is more important rather than special camps. Renuka and Meghana came on board in the Australia series. Pooja has been in the setup. They are aware of their roles. Various technical aspects have also been discussed with them. As and when we do have the preparatory camp before the World Cup, they will have the opportunity to work on their skills.