Experiments galore as India chases stability ahead of World Cup

There’s great comfort in being the reliable bet when success is largely on autopilot. Ask India, the hot favourite in the recent tri-series against Sri Lanka and South Africa in Colombo. Harmanpreet & Co. cantered to a series win, after beating Sri Lanka in a final that was headlined by a sublime century from Smriti Mandhana. The Women in Blue dominated every game in the series they played, barring one, where they could not defend 275, handing the Lankans their second-highest successful chase and just their third win over India in the format.

This outing in the island nation was a statement run for India’s batting order. Pratika Rawal has made hay under the shining sun of Shafali Verma’s absence from the team, becoming the fastest player to 500 ODI runs — doing so in just eight innings. She surpassed England great Charlotte Edwards, who did so in nine.

Pratika’s true utility, though, has been as Smriti’s partner at the top of the batting pile. In 11 ODI innings, this duo has racked up 968 runs at an average of 88. The peak came in a record-breaking 233-run partnership against Ireland in January. Still, the bedrock of this pairing is nine 50+ run stands, which have set up India for competitive scores against its opponents.

Pratika Rawal has made hay under the shining sun of Shafali Verma’s absence from the team, becoming the fastest player to 500 ODI runs — doing so in just eight innings.
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Compare this with the Smriti–Shafali pairing, and the difference is staggering. This duo has 909 runs in 21 innings, at half the average (45.45) and just eight stands of 50 runs or more. Their brightest day was an unbeaten 174-run stand against Sri Lanka back in 2022, but it pales in comparison to the strike rotation and consistent consolidation challenges these two faced in both white-ball formats.

Shafali has tucked herself back into the shadows of domestic cricket, where her quality has repeatedly stood out as superior enough to amass runs rather effortlessly. Pratika’s consistency might make the journey back to the Indian team a bit harder for the imperious batter, in what is shaping up to be the biggest challenge of her career thus far. Her enduring absence from the ODI squad even in the unit announced for India’s white ball tour of England underlines the gravity of the climb.

India’s opening efficacy has eased life for a middle order where better sense has prevailed in slotting players where they are strongest. When head coach Amol Muzumdar took over, experimentation was the name of the game as he moved his batters like jigsaw pieces. Jemimah Rodrigues floated in the middle order and Richa Ghosh was tried at number three, while other talents walked in and out of the playing XI in an effort to find who best meets the side’s demands — a masquerade that frustrated more than comforted the India faithful.

However, this series has thrown up quite a few positives. Jemimah had a series to remember, finishing with 245 runs in four innings, averaging 61.25 and striking at a healthy 117.78. Her ODI comforts have been a few years in the making, with a generous amount of soul-searching involved in locking in her style of play.

“The confidence I have and, more than that, just me understanding my game (has helped me in ODIs),” Jemimah said after her match-winning ton against the Proteas. “Usually, I used to play four to five dot balls, get panicky, and throw my wicket. But now I think that a sense of calmness is there. I can make up anytime. A lot of T20 cricket has helped me,” she added.

Over three WPL campaigns and fiercely contested bilaterals in recent years, Jemimah — and by extension, the team management — has learnt to trust her ability to switch gears as an anchor. Her strengths lie in her impeccable timing and placement, and her ability to bore away at opposition bowlers by relentlessly picking the ones and twos.

Jemimah Rodrigues (left), seen here with Harmanpreet, had a series to remember, finishing with 245 runs in four innings, averaging 61.25 and striking at a healthy 117.78. 
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While pursuing boundaries has seen her become more audacious, this is a textbook player, essaying a textbook part to perfection. Her solidity allows Harmanpreet (above, right) and designated lower-order strikers like Richa Ghosh to play their natural game. It’s a mould even someone like Sneh Rana — remember her five-ball 26-run cameo for RCB against UP Warriorz — is casting herself into.

Harleen Deol’s starting trouble on the road-like pitches in Colombo is a point of concern, especially in the number three slot. Her 157-run haul came at an ordinary average of 39.25 and a strike rate crying for acceleration — 73.36.

Slow innings progression has plagued the top order in its entirety and was a standout feature of the sole loss that India suffered in this series. Pratika (SR: 78.86) and Smriti (SR: 90.41) scoring at a sub-100 rate underline the value of someone as explosive as Shafali in the top three, which should keep Harleen on her toes as well. With the World Cup in mind, teams like Australia can capitalise on this aspect in key clashes.

Off-spinner Sneh (above, second from left) returned to the ODI setup after more than a year and immediately got comfortable. A 15-wicket haul, which included a fifer against South Africa, helped her walk away with the Player of the Series award. She maximised her pace-off deliveries and worked on wide yorkers and seam variations in her armoury to finish the tour with an impressive average of 14.00 and an economy of 4.73. As positive as Sneh’s return to the mix is for the team on one hand, the generous debuts handed out largely to up-and-coming bowlers isn’t the positive one might think it to be.

Of the 17 debuts in 23 ODIs since December 2023, 10 are fast bowlers (all-rounders) and two are batters. A part of this was mandated by injuries to the likes of Pooja Vastrakar, Renuka Singh Thakur, Asha Sobhana and Shreyanka Patil. While India having the depth to blood this much talent is an encouraging sign, the fact that the bowling still isn’t set in stone barely five months away from the ODI World Cup is a fault line.

For all its experimentation, opportunities have not been consistent. Tejal Hasabnis made her entry to the setup during the New Zealand series in 2024, but hasn’t been given a steady run. Minnu Mani is another casualty of the same tendency. The three debutants in this series — N. Sree Charani, Shuchi Upadhyay and Kashvee Gautam — all had rough initiations into the format, going for plenty of runs. Charani managed six wickets from the tour to Lanka and has impressed with her persistence and aggression.

India heads to England with a depleted pace attack, with no news on the fitness of Pooja Vastrakar and Renuka Singh Thakur. Kashvee, who sustained an injury during the Tri-Series, is also missing in action. India is also fairly short in the legspin department.

The merry-go-round of bowling options brings more instability than otherwise, and India would be wise to learn from its errors in the T20 World Cup to give itself a chance to lift its first senior trophy — at home no less.