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India hope all-rounders make a splash in Women’s T20 World Cup
Deepti Sharma apart, Shafali Verma, Richa Ghosh and Pooja Vastrakar are all being seen as all-rounders who can make a difference as the team chases a first senior women’s ICC trophy.
Deepti Sharma has been an India all-rounder for six years and the left-handed batter and off-spinner has made an impact playing in various ICC global events. When Harmanpreet Kaur asked her to bowl the second over in Sunday’s T20 World Cup win over Pakistan in Cape Town, it showed the skipper’s trust in her abilities.
And the 25-year-old delivered straightaway, removing Pakistan opener Javeria Khan in her first over. Though she returned the day’s most expensive figures (4-0-39-1) after Bismah Maroof and Ayesha Naseem attacked later on, it seemed more a blip.
The new Women’s Premier League franchises saw it that way on Monday with UP Warriorz making her their most expensive buy ( ₹2.6 crore), and fourth highest bid overall. It was only in keeping with the assessment of the seasoned player, who has played for two teams each in The Hundred and the Women’s Big Bash League.
“Deepti is a fine cricketer. She knows well how to assess her own game. She bowls in the powerplay and in the death overs. T20 is such a format a bowler can bowl three good overs and the fourth can be expensive. She does a good job for India as well,” India team’s bowling coach Troy Cooley said on Tuesday.
She leads the way in an Indian team that is encouraging more players to work on their all-round skills, an aspect stressed by Harmanpreet on taking over as ODI skipper last year when Mithali Raj retired. She spoke about the importance of all-rounders, crucial for India to beat Australia and England in big tournaments.
Harmanpreet said how she encouraged Shafali Verma to bowl off-breaks, Richa Ghosh to keep wicket and medium-pacer Pooja Vastrakar to swing the bat down the order. They back up all-rounders Radha Yadav and Devika Vaidya in the Cup team.
Devika made a fine India comeback after eight years in the T20 series against Australia in Mumbai two months ago and scored 32 off 26 balls at No 5 in the second game. UP Warriorz splurged ₹1.4 crore for her in the auction.
India reeled in a tricky target of 150 against Pakistan, thanks to Jemimah Rodrigues and Sneh Rana. Left-arm spinner Radha, who was like Jemimah not picked for the ODI World Cup last year, has made an impact straightaway. She was the pick of the bowlers, taking 2/21.
“When you play top teams like Australia and England, you need quality all-rounders, especially in T20. In the last six months, India has built a good team with players pitching in in both the departments. We saw Shafali take a couple of wickets in the U-19 World Cup. She bowled tight spells. Pooja, who has big scores under her belt in domestic cricket, has also hit a couple of half-centuries for India. She can be a power-hitter in the World Cup,” former India coach Tushar Arothe, now batting coach with WPL team Gujarat Giants, said.
Pooja went to Mumbai Indians for ₹1.9 crore on Monday. WBBL side Brisbane Heat picked her in the last edition for her all-round skills. “Top players need to put pressure on the opposition to win trophies. Pooja is aggressive, she likes to dominate be it bowling or batting,” said Amita Sharma, former India all-rounder.
When India face West Indies at Newlands on Wednesday. Opener Smriti Mandhana, who missed the first game due to a finger injury, batted in the nets on Tuesday and a final call would be made on Wednesday morning, Cooley said.
