India Women skipper Mithali Raj has shown over the course of the ODI series against England Women why she is still the number one bet for the country to win the World Cup in New Zealand next year. The 38-year-old hit three consecutive fifties in the series with the last one coming in a stellar run chase and the coach Ramesh Powar was delighted by the skipper’s performance and said that she deserves every accolade in the world.
“I think she deserves every praise in the world out there. She has been a great server of the game for the past 22 years and she is a role model for a lot of girls out there,” Powar was heard saying in a video uploaded by the BCCI on Twitter. “She won us this game single-handedly. Chasing 220 on a low bounce track is not easy and she still got us over the line,” he added.
However, the coach, who was appointed just ahead of this England series, feels that the team’s batting needs to get better if they aim to do well in the upcoming World Cup. “I think bowlers brought us back in this game and we have a lot to learn from this series. Bowling and fielding have improved immensely. Batting has to be up if we are aiming at the World Cup,” said the 43-year-old.
Praising the bowling unit further, Powar also appreciated the efforts put in by senior player Jhulan Goswami in improving the team. “Jhulan Goswami is one of the legends of women’s cricket and her work ethic, preparations, commitment towards the game, towards the team and the dressing room and young players is commendable. It makes a huge difference to us as a team,” he said.
The Indian team, having collected four points from a draw in Tests and a win in ODIs would at least look to win the T20I series 2-1 to square up in the entire tour with hosts England who are two pits ahead at six points courtesy of their two wins in the ODI series. The shortest format begins with the first T20I at Northampton on July 8.