Former captain Shantha Rangaswamy says there is no need to constantly criticize Mithali Raj’s strike rate as she is the best batsman in the Indian women’s cricket team. Shantha, also a member of BCCI’s Apex Council, lauded India’s performance in the ODI series in Australia, where they lost 1-2 but fought hard against a champion time.
With the win in the third ODI, India also broke Australia’s record 26-match winning streak. He said, ‘She is the best batsman India has ever produced and she is still the best. She knows how to switch gears well and strike rate doesn’t matter if wickets are falling at the other end. He played well in the UK and in this series as well,” added Shanta PTI.
“Even Jhulan was brilliant against Australia. Showing age is just a number as these two are still playing well (at 38).
Mithali scored her fifth consecutive half-century in the first match of the series but India kept losing in this match. On the team’s performance in ODIs, Shanta said: “It was remarkable as they fought hard against the best team in the world. India should have won the second ODI as well but it was a good game nonetheless.”
Shantha needs a lot of fielding improvement and the players need to be more consistent. He also questioned the fitness of T20 captain Harmanpreet Kaur as a thumb injury ruled her out of the series. “She came out of a hundred injured before that during the South Africa series at home. If he is prone to injury, he should avoid playing foreign leagues and prefer playing for India. He is an impressive player and the team needs him.”
“BCCI can stop players from playing in the league before important tours like Australia,” he said. The former India captain also expects more consistency from openers Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana. She also feels that Richa Ghosh needs to work a lot in her wicket-keeping though she has come across well as a batsman in ODIs.
“Yastika Bhatia impressed in her first series and it should be continued. Shafali needs to find other ways to score, bowlers won’t pitch her as often. The bowlers now know what to bowl to them.”
Sneh Rana has done well as an all-rounder who puts pressure on Deepti Sharma. “Deepti is a better option in Tests as she has a more compact game. Sneh has done really well since his return and could be the leading spin all-rounder in ODIs.”
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