4 problems for Indian women's team ahead of T20 World Cup

The eighth edition of the ICC Women's T20 World Cup will begin on 10 February 2023 with hosts South Africa taking on Sri Lanka in the first encounter. This time around, the 2020 edition runners-up India are hoping to improve on their performance and lift the trophy.

The Indian women's cricket team had a mixed bag of results in 2022. They won the Women's Asia Cup and grabbed a silver medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, but failed to qualify for the knockout stages of the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup, where they were considered strong contenders.

It's not that the team lacks potential; they have a good mix of young talent and experienced players. With the likes of Renuka Singh, Shafali Verma, Richa Ghosh, and Jemimah Rodrigues, the Indian team possesses a strong core of young players who will shoulder the burden of the team for a long time. Also, with senior players like Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, and Rajeshwari Gaikwad stepping up when needed, India looks like a force to be reckoned with.

In the recently concluded series against the mighty Australians, they also fought bravely and made their opponents work for their wins. A scoreline of 4-1 did not justify the performance of this Indian side, and it could easily have been 3-2, still in Australia's favor.

Though the Australian team have been in a league of their own and are tough opponents to beat, this Indian team has always threatened them, only to crumble when it matters the most.

So where are the Women in Blue lacking? What are the concerns that could hinder their chances of winning the coveted T20 World Cup trophy in South Africa? Let us take a look.

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#1 Dependency on certain batters

Many a time, it has been seen that India do well whenever their openers Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma perform exceedingly well or skipper Harmanpreet Kaur steps up big time. They have had a lion's share of runs in most of India's wins and carry the burden of taking India over the line. This dependency may cause trouble for Indian women at the World Cup.

India relies heavily on the opening duo of Smriti and Shafali. Pic:-Getty Images

The number-three position has been an area of concern for Indian women for a very long time. They would dearly want Jemimah Rodrigues to cement that position with some outstanding performances.

One of the issues the Indian team has is a lack of finishers. Although India are grooming Richa Ghosh for that particular role of taking the game over the line, and she also showed glimpses of her brute power against Australia, she is too raw to be trusted for that role in a competition like the World Cup, where there will be immense pressure. India will be hoping for a fast recovery of designated finishers like Pooja Vastrakar and Sneh Rana to tackle this issue.

#2 Inconsistent bowling

Bowling has been India's achilles heel for a very long time. They either perform in patches, with one or two bowlers chipping in and putting the opposition under pressure, or they will be as toothless as you can imagine.

Since Jhulan Goswami's retirement, Renuka Thakur has become the spearhead of the Indian bowling attack, but she majorly lacks support from other bowlers.

India needs their bowling unit to support their batsmen's efforts to stand a chance in the upcoming T20 World Cup. Pic: Getty Images

Their attack also lacks the instinct to close matches whenever they have their opponents on the mat. There have been instances when they have let the match slip away with their unidirectional bowling, allowing their opponents to come back into the game.

A major issue for skipper Harmanpreet will be the inability of the team's spinners to take wickets in the middle overs. The World Cup will be played in South Africa where pacers might be more effective compared to spinners, but as the tournament progresses the role of spinners will grow exponentially on tiring pitches. The trio of Deepti Sharma, Rajeshwari Gaikwad, and Devika Vaidya need to raise their game for India to lift the trophy.

#3 Fielding woes

Fielding has never been a strong suit for the Indian team, with the exception of some selected players like Radha Yadav, Harmanpreet Kaur, and Smriti Mandhana (to some extent). All the Indian players seem to struggle in this aspect. Time and again, they have dropped catches, fluffed run-outs, and given extra runs, all of which resulted in the match slipping out of their grasp.

This Indian fielding unit leaves a lot to be desired. Pic: Getty Images

While one cannot expect them to raise their fielding standards within 2 months, we can expect them to improve, cutting short easy singles and reducing the doubles. Their fielding efforts at the Commonwealth Games finals were outstanding, putting everything on the ball and saving some 20 odd runs with their stupendous fielding. If only they could replicate that effort, they have a great chance at the upcoming World Cup.

#4 Weak temperament

There has been a certain worrying pattern for the Indian team in recent years. They tend to dominate for the majority of the contest before throwing it away with some schoolboy errors.

They have lost 3 big finals in the space of the last 5 years - two of them against Australia. From the 2017 World Cup to the 2020 T20 World Cup and the 2022 Commonwealth Games gold medal encounter. They lost the 2020 T20 World Cup final comprehensively but choked in the other two finals.

In the 2017 World Cup, they needed just 33 runs from 39 balls with five wickets in hand. In the Commonwealth Games final, they were cruising with 8 wickets in hand and just 44 runs required off 33 balls. Both times, they succumbed to the pressure of the moment and gift-wrapped the finals to their opponents.

In situations of overwhelming pressure, India needs a fresh approach and mindset. A mental conditioning coach such as Paddy Upton could be extremely beneficial to India. The Women in Blue will undoubtedly need to exhibit more character when performing under pressure.

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Whether the Indian women's team wins the upcoming T20 World Cup will depend a lot on how the women support each other, how clearly the roles of each player are defined, and the extent to which they work on the aforementioned issues.