India women’s team head coach Amol Muzumdar has put an end to the long-standing debate over the No. 3 position by confirming that skipper Harmanpreet Kaur will take on that role. In the months prior to the tournament, the Women in Blue lacked a clear candidate for the position, experimenting with various batters.
Harmanpreet has played T20I cricket in every batting position, from opening to the lower order. However, the majority of her career—over 100 matches—has been at No. 4, a role she has claimed as her own and also held while playing for the Mumbai Indians (MI) in the Women’s Premier League (WPL).
She has batted 18 times at No. 3 in T20Is, accumulating 298 runs at an average of 21.28. Her last appearance at this position was during the previous Women’s T20 World Cup, where she scored 13 runs off 20 balls in a victory over Ireland in Gqeberha.
“Absolutely, not just the warm-up games, but we had already decided back in India and in the camps that happened before we set off from Mumbai. We had a lovely camp in Bangalore, and we decided there.”
”Basically, these pre-World Cup matches absolutely stamped that for us. Go through the scorecard, you’ll find out,” Amol Muzumdar said during the pre-match press conference.
Harmanpreet scored 10 and 1 while batting at No. 3 in Team India’s recent warm-up victories against South Africa and the West Indies, respectively.
Dayalan Hemalatha mainly filled the No. 3 position, especially during the home series against South Africa and the early part of the Asia Cup. Other players, such as Uma Chetry and Sajeevan Sajana, also had opportunities higher up the order.
Jemimah Rodrigues has also batted at No. 3 but seems more comfortable in the No. 5 role, where she has focused on improving her power-hitting.
“We’ve discussed that at least three or four of our top six must bowl”- Amol Muzumdar
With two frontline pacers and three spinners, India has established a solid bowling lineup, including all-rounders to add batting depth. However, the lack of a sixth bowling option remains a significant concern.
On the opening day of the Women’s T20 World Cup, teams like Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Scotland utilized at least six bowlers.
“We’ve paid a lot of attention to the sixth bowling option. Also, for a fact that we have had multiple discussions within our top six, at least three to four have to bowl. If we can get those overs out of them, then nothing like it,” Muzumdar said in the same presser.
“All of them could bowl. So, it’s just a question of applying and just putting in those hard yards in the nets and then converting that into a match performance. So, Harman hasn’t bowled, but she bowled in the second T20 warm-ups and is experienced enough to bowl those overs,” Muzumdar concluded.
India’s top order is capable of bowling if necessary. Smriti Mandhana has bowled in WODIs, while Shafali Varma has taken 10 wickets in WT20Is. Harmanpreet Kaur boasts 75 international wickets across formats and even dismissed Nadine de Klerk in the warm-up match.
India will begin their Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 campaign with a group-stage match against New Zealand in Dubai on Friday, October 4.
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