Manchester, With middle-order batting woes and sloppy fielding threatening to derail their campaign, India will be desperate to address those concerns when they take on Bangladesh in a crucial Women's T20 World Cup Group A clash here on Thursday.
India entered the 12-team tournament with the form of their top order as a concern, but Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma have largely allayed those fears.
Mandhana has scored 159 runs in three matches, while Shafali has contributed 92, with both batters striking at over 154 and consistently providing brisk starts.
However, the inability of the middle order to build on those platforms has emerged as a fresh concern for the team management.
Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur (SR 109.09), Jemimah Rodrigues (94.11) and Yastika Bhatia (105.88) have each been unable to carry on the momentum provided by the openers, and their failure to accelerate invariably has left a lot to do for the likes of Richa Ghosh and Deepti Sharma.
Having played three matches each, both Kaur and Rodrigues have managed just 11 boundaries between them without hitting a single six. Yastika, meanwhile, has struck only three fours in two innings, numbers that are likely to worry the Indian camp heading deeper into the tournament.
On their part, Richa (176.92) and Deepti (159.37) have responded well to the challenge but arriving late in the innings with limited deliveries to face has increased the pressure on the duo.
Despite their lopsided batting, India (4 points in 3 matches, Net Run Rate of 2.511) are reaping the benefits of victories by big margins - by 64 runs against Pakistan and by 95 runs against the Netherlands - as they look to hold on to the second spot in Group A.
Australia, for that matter, have cemented themselves at the top of the group with four wins on the trot giving them a total of 8 points and a superb NRR of 4.724.
The top two teams from each groups will advance to the semifinals and India would not want to be in a situation where they are challenged for that second spot by South Africa (4 points, NRR -0.546) any further.
South Africa rode on a brilliant 81 not out and a two-for from their senior all-rounder Marizanne Kapp to hammer India by six wickets in their last outing, which once again exposed the latter's shortcomings.
Despite leaning on their spin attack to eke out results, India were unable to make the most of the surface even when they had South Africa cornered at 25/2 after the powerplay in Proteas' chase.
Even as Shree Charani provided some respite with a rare double-wicket-maiden to bring India back in the game, it was undone by some ordinary bowling by the others, but most importantly, the failure in grabbing opportunities.
Radha Yadav, one of the team's best fielders, endured a rare off day as she spilled two regulation chances off Kapp's bat, which proved to be catastrophic.
India would know they cannot allow such mistakes to creep into the game with the business end of the competition approaching fast, and after taking on Bangladesh, they will be up against the red-hot in form Australia.
On their part, impressive victories over Pakistan (by 23 runs) and defending champions New Zealand (by 6 wickets) would give Bangladesh the belief to challenge India.
While none of their players have really imposed themselves in the tournament, Bangladesh have thrived on collective efforts which would keep India on their toes.
Teams (from):
India: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Yastika Bhatia (wk), Bharti Fulmali, Richa Ghosh (wk), Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Kranti Gaud, Prema Rawat, Arundhati Reddy, Renuka Singh Thakur, Radha Yadav, Nandini Sharma, Shree Charani.
Bangladesh: Nigar Sultana (c&wk), Nahida Akter (vc), Dilara Akter (wk), Juairiya Firdous (wk), Sobhana Mostary, Tej Nehar, Sharmin Akhter, Rabeya Khan, Ritu Moni, Shorna Akter, Fahima Khatun, Fariha Trisna, Marufa Akter, Sanjida Akter Meghla, Sultana Khatun.
Match starts at 7:00pm IST.
