Sometimes, just following a set template could prove fatal in cricket. Even though the Indian women’s team won the 1st T20I against England at Chelmsford, by 38 runs, there did come a stage in the middle overs, where Yastika Bhatia, despite getting a 50, struggled to score freely. After having scored 51 from 32 by the 12th over, she got out for 54 from 40, putting pressure on her batting partner, Jemimah Rodrigues. That should be used as a learning of sorts, to deploy power-hitters like Richa Ghosh or Bharti Fulmali in the middle-order, even at no. 3, before somewhat stable players like Jemi/Yastika/ or even Harmanpreet Kaur come in, for the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup.
The women’s T20 game has evolved too, and teams like South Africa and Australia, perhaps the best in the format now, have players who can accelerate at will, whereas the six-hitting capability of some of the Indians, who tend to face the most deliveries, might not be the best. And that is why a change is the need of the hour.
The middle-overs dilemma
Let us look at a few numbers, as to where the concern really arises. Jemimah is the dedicated no.3, but her T20I SR at that position is only 115. She has scored 2022 runs there, but in 79 innings at no. 3, she has managed to hit only 21 sixes. She runs extremely hard, and hits a lot of boundaries, but why not have a power-hitter, who can get the run-rate up exponentially.
To elevate the concern, in the 9 innings in the middle-overs this year (7 to 15), she has gotten out 8 times, scored 223 runs at an average of 27 and has hit only 4 maximums.
Credit: Photo by Keeran Marquis/Sports Press Photo via AlamyYastika Bhatia, though would most likely not get a place in the XI, but her overall SR of 95 makes matters worse, if she does get some game time. Her capability to hit sixes dips even further, having only 3 against her name in 20 encounters. As for Harmanpreet, there is no real issue in her ability, but she should not really have a fixed number, more like a floating batter, for the skills she possesses.
Why Richa/Bharti need to be promoted?
The simple reason being, both Richa and Bharti have SRs close to 150, better than any other batter in the team. They might fail 5 times out of 10, but the other 5, they will take India where, there is no fear of losing. In 81 matches so far, Richa has hit 43 sixes, and can clear the ropes without much fuss. This year in 4 matches (all T20s), in the middle overs, she has scored 128 runs at an SR of 150, hitting 9 sixes.
On the other hand, Bharti, yet to prove her mettle in international cricket, has a strike-rate of 149 in WPL, in 18 matches, hitting 16 sixes. And that is what the team exactly needs in the middle overs. Again, only be one of these batters should be promoted, but this ploy can really unsettle the opposition bowling attacks, if they get going.
Richa Ghosh/Bharti Fulmali should bat up the order in Women’s T20 World Cup, shouldn’t be reserved for last Inside Sport India.
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