The Indian women’s team finds itself in a challenging position after the first two legs of their five-match T20I series against South Africa. In both matches, the touring side showed some flashes of individual brilliance but could not put enough pressure on the hosts. As a result, they now find themselves 0-2 behind with 3 more matches to go. If the Indians wish to record another overseas series victory, they must win the next 3 matches, which will be a great turnaround.
Batting: The lack of spark and consistency
There were some moments of celebration. In the first T20I, Smriti Mandhana became the highest-ever run-scorer in T20Is for India (men and women) as she crossed the previous highest of 4,231 runs set by Rohit Sharma. However, with just 25 runs in two matches, it is safe to say that Mandhana is yet to fire in this series.
It is true for many of the Indian batters. Combining the first two T20Is, there is only one fifty scored by the Indians- a blazing 38-ball 57 by Shafali Verma in the second T20I, as the highest score for the Indians in the first T20I was 47 by the captain Harmanpreet Kaur. On the contrary, the South Africa captain, Laura Wolvaardt, scored fifties in both outings, and her fellow opener Sune Luus scored a fifty in the second T20I.
The crisis in the middle
Indian team’s middle and lower order also need to fire. In both matches, they lost a heap of wickets in the death overs and failed to get the momentum for a quick finish. They lost their last 5 wickets for 38 runs in the first T20I and then collapsed from 99/2 to 147 all out in the next T20I, losing 8 wickets for 48 runs.
Finishers like Richa Ghosh and Deepti Sharma need to start contributing more. One positive for them would be the performance of the debutant Anushka Sharma in the second T20I. She opened her international career with a confident 28.
There was also not enough rotation of strike during the middle orders, as the Indian batters got stuck and played too many dot balls. This added additional pressure on them and helped the hosts to keep bowling as per their plan. They need to keep the scoreboard moving, alongside finding opportunities for boundaries as much as they can.
India Women need tactical reset
On the other hand, the hosts won both tosses and decided to bowl first on each occasion. Everything seemed to go as per plan for the hosts. During the chase, their openers Wolvaardt and Luus started attacking from the very beginning. In both matches, they controlled the Powerplay leaving the Indian bowlers searching for answers. The duo added 57/1 in Powerplay in the first T20I, and in the second T20I, they were even more ruthless, adding 66 runs without losing a wicket.
On the other hand, India opened their bowling with a combination of pace (Renuka Thakur/Kranti Gaud) and spin (Shreyanka Patil), which did not work. India may need a tactical reshuffle in the next match, specifically by pairing Renuka Thakur with fellow seamer Arundhati Reddy at the start of the innings to restrict the Proteas batters. They also need their fielders to back them.
Given the pedigree this Indian side has established through numerous triumphs in recent years, a strong comeback is well within their reach. By fine-tuning a few tactical elements before the third T20I, they have every opportunity to shift the momentum and turn this into a highly competitive series.
