IND vs ENG T20I series takeaways: Sree Charani, Shafali Verma impress; fielding perhaps biggest positive in India's historic win

Indian Express

3 days ago

India's first-ever women's T20I bilateral series win in England is a good enough achievement in isolation, but carries a bit more weight with less than one year to go for ICC Women's T20 World Cup in these conditions. Harmanpreet Kaur's side were dominant for large parts of the series, winning three matches rather comfortably, losing one after a run-chase that they controlled, and missing a chance to effect a Super Over in the fifth.
It's so often been a source of criticism against the Indian team, that it's only fair to point out the improvements they have shown with their fielding. Often in the past, we have been used to the broadcasters panning to the coaching staff when the team has been guilty of misfields and dropped catches. But, not just throughout this five-match T20I series, India were pretty sharp in the recent Tri-Series in Sri Lanka as well. The odd dropped catches do still happen – as it did in the fifth T20I – but the athleticism and game awareness to cut down angles while approaching the ball with aggression have witnessed marked improvements.
Leading this were Radha Yadav, Jemimah Rodrigues and Amanjot Kaur – three gun fielders who have ben assigned hotspots. Radha's catch in the last over of the 5th T20I to dismiss Amy Jones is a contender for cricket's catch of the year, as she dived forward full length at deep midwicket to complete a stunner. 'One of the best catches I have seen, she has been phenomenal, puts in a lot of hard work behind the scenes with her fielding. Not many people know it. Radha is somebody we need to stop, sometimes,' head coach Amol Muzumdar said.
Early in his tenure, Muzumdar had said that improving India's fielding and fitness was one of his priorities. While it has taken time, the results are starting to show. Fielding coach Munish Bali said the camps at BCCI's Center of Excellence before this England tour had a big focus on this aspect. 'All these kids, they really want to become a good fielding side. There is an attitude change. I am very happy with the commitment they show, not just in the match, but during our practice sessions,' Bali said in a press conference. But he repeated more than once that there is a still long way to go, and the dropped chances and a massive missed runout chance off the last ball by Smriti Mandhana in he fifth T20I were a reminder of that.
'In the camps, we did some specific work on high catching, ground fielding which involves cutting the angles. What that involves is having a good approach, you have to take a shorter route to stay towards the ball. We did lots of drills regarding that. How fast we can come to the ball. And for that, our players need to be good athletes,' Bali added.
There is just one year separating N Sree Charani and Shafali Verma but the T20I series in England came at very different points in their careers. For the 20-year-old left-arm spinner, it's very early days, as she made her T20I debut. For Shafali on the other hand, it's a second chance of sorts, having been dealt the first big challenge of her career after getting dropped last year from both white-ball formats. And both youngsters impressed.
With 10 wickets at an average of 14.80 over the five matches, Charani outbowled every other player in the series. India have been chopping and changing over the past year and a half across both white-ball formats to find a lead left-arm spinner, but if Charani keeps up this trajectory, she might just be India's first-choice for the World Cup.
'I guess, you know, from WPL we identified her and then I think her progress has been fantastic,' Muzumdar said, calling her a find of the WPL, where she featured for Delhi Capitals. 'She's been phenomenal in this series. We had a good look at her in the Tri-Series, where we played South Africa and Sri Lanka. So, I think she's been the find. We were searching for a left-arm spinner and she's fitted the bill perfectly.'
In the batting department, Shafali's talent has never been in question, but her consistency was an issue. While she had a slow start to the series, she finished strong, ending up as the second-highest run-getter (176 runs at a strike rate of 158.55) behind Smriti Mandhana (221 runs). Her return to domestic cricket has already proven that she is perhaps too good for that level, but she still has to prove she can translate that to international cricket.
And the return to form now makes for an interesting headache for the management, as Muzumdar conceded. Pratika Rawal has made a dream start to her ODI career and has struck a wonderful partnership with Mandhana. But Shafali could perhaps still find herself in the mix for the World Cup, even though she is not in the squad for ODIs that follow in England.
Vinayakk Mohanarangan is Senior Assistant Editor and is based in New Delhi. ... Read More