Indian captain Mithali Raj Sunday urged her team-mates to “work on partnerships” as they looked to claim an unassailable lead in the three-match one-day international series against England.
“We have to work on partnerships. We had just two – between the openers and mine with Taniya [Bhatia]. We need to work on playing the middle overs,” said Raj on the eve of the second one-dayer in Mumbai.
Openers Jemimah Rodrigues, who top scored with 48, and Smriti Mandhana added 69 runs for the first wicket. After a mini collapse, the Indian innings was resurrected by a 54-run stand between Mithali (44) and wicket keeper Tania (25) for the sixth wicket.
India, who made 202, defended the modest score with some crafty spin bowling by left-arm Ekta Bisht (4/25) to emerge victorious by 66 runs and take a 1-0 lead.
“When we can go and score 200 with just two partnerships, if another couple of batters can score runs, that would be a good score on this wicket,” Mithali pointed out.
Raj felt that Rodrigues has forged a reliable combination with Smriti Mandhana. “She [Rodrigues] has gradually improved since her debut in South Africa,” the 36-year-old said.
“So much exposure at such a young age will only help her progress more and take responsibility of giving a good start. India have, for long, struggled to have a good opening pair. Now I can see good starts since the New Zealand [tour],” she remarked.
She also hailed the bowling of Shikha Pandey after an indifferent run of form. “She’s been with team for long. Every player goes through a lean patch. As a senior and captain it’s my duty to give more confidence, giving more opportunities.
“Since the New Zealand tour you’ve seen how she has taken up the responsibility of the first spell along with Jhulan Goswami. Jhulan, being around, also helps, as she shares her experience. With a senior around, juniors develop under their wings,” she explained.
Need for women’s IPL
Mithali Raj also came out in support of starting a women’s version of the Indian Premier League after having spoken against it earlier. “I felt that [way] before the ODI World Cup. At that point of time the players’ identity as individual players was not as big as the ODI World Cup where people started to understand what is Indian women’s cricket and who all play for the team,” said Raj.
She was speaking on the eve of the second One-day International against world champions England. “Now since a year or two people have gone beyond 2-3 players. They recognise other players in the squad and now is the right time to get in IPL because T20 is also a format that ICC is looking to promote in women’s cricket,” she added.
Raj felt that there will be cascading effect on their game’s structure with the introduction of women’s IPL.
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