Women's World Cup: Back-to-back defeats a setback, but India eye redemption

Two consecutive and unexpected defeats may dent India's momentum in their ICC Women’s World Cup title campaign, but head coach Amol Mazumdar remains focused on the positives — particularly the performances of young players.

Despite Indian bowlers failing to defend the team’s highest-ever total in Women’s World Cup history — and the highest by any team in the ongoing tournament — Mazumdar threw his support behind emerging talents Kranti Gaud and Shree Charani.

Shree, the 21-year-old left-arm spinner, emerged as a standout performer against Australia, claiming 3/41 in her 10-over spell.

For the second time in a month, India suffered their third defeat to Australia — this time after posting a record-breaking total.

Australian skipper Alyssa Healy showed remarkable grit with a stunning 142, guiding her team to chase down 331 and secure a three-wicket win with six balls to spare, retaining their position at the top of the table.

“After this game we'll have a look at it and I'm sure the team management will have a proper discussion about (potentially promoting an all-rounder) and then we'll take a right call as we approach the next game,” said the coach.

“I think they (Kranti and Shree) have been exceptional. If you see Kranti and Shree, they bowled well against Australia. Shree took some important wickets. I think they have been exceptional, both of them,” added Mazumdar.

While talking about the match, the coach gave credit to the Australian team. “Credit to them. The finish in a cricket game is very important. Yes, we need a good start but we need a better finish. So, if you see the finish that we had in the South Africa game as far as bowling is concerned in the last five overs we ended up losing that game, and even today basically if we would have got another 20 runs maybe things would have been different.

“But at the same time, it's been a gradual progress for us and there are a lot of learnings. I keep talking about positives and learnings. One of the things to learn is to finish well.”

While emphasising the need to learn from experience, the Indian bowlers were unable to defend the total in their last two matches, both of which the team lost.

“I think, they batted exceptionally well. The way they started and eventually ended up getting 330 with one over to spare was a phenomenal effort.

“Yes, we tried to build pressure on them, but they've (got) experienced players. They've been playing together for a while. I think almost 10 years they've been playing with almost the same team. So, credit to them,” added the coach.