Loss in first ODI highlights Indian Middle-order’s Need for Speed

The loss against England Women in the first ODI should serve as a wake-up call for the India Women’s team think-tank. After all, it wasn’t just any narrow loss. The Indian eves were brutally outplayed and found themselves completely at sea against a quality English side.

While India huffed and puffed along their way to post a total of 201/8 in their full quota of fifty overs, England chased down the target with eight wickets and 95 deliveries to spare. 

The ICC Women’s ODI rankings place India as the fourth best team in the world currently. They were runners-up in the 2017 edition of the Women’s ODI World Cup as well and that suggests India are a fairly competitive side. But considering the way they played yesterday against England, it looked like there is a huge difference in quality between them and the three sides — Australia, England and South Africa — placed above them in the rankings.

It was majorly their slow batting approach that led to their crushing loss. They just didn’t get going after debutant Shafali Verma‘s early dismissal. Punam Raut walked out to bat at No.3 and struggled to score. With just one run to her name, Raut had consumed a total of 19 deliveries. As a result the pressure of keeping the scoreboard ticking increased on Smriti Mandhana at the other end and she perished trying to play a shot that wasn’t meant for that delivery.

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Skipper Mithali Raj walked in to bat next and she didn’t show the intent to accelerate the scoring either. At the end of the 21st over, India’s score read 45/2 and these two batters still didn’t look in any hurry at all. They did try to up the ante later but it was already too late.

Mithali was India’s highest scorer with 72 runs to her name, which came at a meager strike-rate of 66.66. Raut, India’s second highest scorer in the innings, scored 32 runs at an even lower strike-rate of 52.45.

Don’t get me wrong, Mithali Raj is a brilliant batter and incredible servant to the game, but this innings will never win a game for India against this England. #ENGvIND

— Isabelle Westbury (@izzywestbury) June 27, 2021

Overall, India played 181 dot balls — over 60% of the available number of deliveries in their innings. They hit just 20 boundaries in their entire quota of overs as well.

England, in comparison, hit 26 boundaries even after facing 95 deliveries less than India. In fact, they had scored 15 of their 26 boundaries even before reaching the 20th over of their innings. That sums up how contrasting England and India’s overall batting approach was.

Even the hosts had lost an early wicket in the form of Lauren Winfield-Hill. But that didn’t stop them from maintaining a swift flow of runs. The irony with India is that they can’t even call it an unlucky day for them. The slow batting approach of their middle-order batters has been a problem ever since the last ODI World Cup.

Since the 2017 ODI World Cup, the Indian middle-order (position 3 to 6) has the worst strike-rate and Boundary Ball Percentage (BBP) among the top five teams in the ICC WODI rankings.

Table: Batting SR and Boundary Ball Percentage (BBP) for the middle-order (3-6) of the top five ranked ODI teams since July 24, 2021

It clearly shows how far the Indian middle-order is lagging behind the other four teams in terms of scoring rate. They do have an average of 34.42, which is bettered only by Australia (42.31). But that can’t come at the cost of such a huge dip in strike-rate. 

Among the 17 batters who have faced at least 500 deliveries batting between positions 3 and 6 in Women’s ODIs since the end of the 2017 World Cup, only South Africa’s Sune Luus (59.17) has a worse strike-rate than Raut (62.06), Raj (62.10), Deepti Sharma (63.06) . Harmanpreet Kaur isn’t far behind with a strike-rate of 70.75 as well.  All four of these players constitute India’s middle-order.

Now it is up to the Indian think-tank to solve this middle-order muddle and address their immediate need for speed. They have to decide whom they want to pursue with and that should depend on who they think is capable of changing their intent to suit the needs of the team.

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A modern-day ODI batting unit certainly doesn’t need three anchors. The way Raut, Raj and Deepti bat, it looks like their mindset is hardwired to occupy the crease. While Harmanpreet is mostly known for her explosive batting ability, she hasn’t been in the best form for the last couple of years and that sums up her low strike-rate. But there is no doubt that she is still an asset worth investing in.

It is hard to replace Deepti as well considering the all-round value she brings to the table. Unless and until someone like Sneh Rana displays swifter scoring ability consistently, India will probably continue with Deepti in the lineup. Now the choice is between Raut and Raj. One is a veteran with immense experience and the other is a talented batter with equally good consistency. 

Mithali’s age is a big factor too and the think-tank needs to be sure whether they want to carry her to the World Cup next year. She has certainly expressed the desire to continue. And if they decide to stick with her until the 2022 World Cup, it is Raut who has to go out. They certainly can’t afford to have both of them in the lineup.

India has a ready-made option in Jemimah Rodrigues, who has already played 19 ODIs, to take up that No.3 slot. They have another option in Richa Ghosh as well. Both of them have the ability to score quick runs and that could be very helpful for the Indian side in transforming their middle-order batting approach.