India vs Australia: Coach Amol Muzumdar press conference – should India play an extra spinner? Is dot-ball percentage a concern?

On Indian batters not converting their starts and falling short of 350

Amol Muzumdar: I would not like to name anybody. I think it was a super batting effort to reach to 330. Of course, we would have liked to have some more. You can always say in hindsight, that if we had another 20 runs it would be better, but that’s not how we look at it. I think there are a lot of takeaways from our batting display today. 330, I guess, was a very challenging score.

On whether India want to take a look at having another primary bowling option

Obviously, after this game we’ll have a look at it and I’m sure the team management will have a proper discussion about this and then we’ll take a right call as we approach the next game. I’m sure about it.

On whether Australia’s fearless attitude made the difference

Credit to them. I think they batted exceptionally well. The way they started and eventually ended up getting 330 with one over to spare was a phenomenal effort, I felt. Yes, we tried to build pressure on them, but they’ve been experienced players. They’ve been playing together for a while. I think almost 10 years they’ve been playing with this, almost the same team. There have been a few exceptions, but I think eventually Ellyse Perry also finished things off. So, credit to them. They batted magnificently, I think.

On whether India’s dot-ball percentage is being addressed internally

Well, to be honest, after the previous game – not this one, but the one before against South Africa – we had an elongated discussion about how we are going to approach the batting innings. And that was one of the things that was discussed, about the dot ball percentage. So far in the last year and a half, we have been playing very aggressive cricket, and I thought today was a good display. Yes, the dot-ball percentage has come down but we’ll have a closer look at it. I don’t know what the percentage is for today. You’ve been kind enough to tell me how much. 48% is it? Yeah, we would like to get it down.

On what the learnings are from consecutive defeats

According to me, the finish in a cricket game is very important. I always say this – even in the dressing room. Yes we need a good start but we need to finish better. So, if you see the finish that we had in the South Africa game, as far as bowling is concerned, in the last five overs we ended up losing that game. And even today basically if we had got another 20 runs (in the batting innings) maybe things would have been different. But at the same time, it’s been a gradual progress for us and there are a lot of learnings. I keep talking about positives and learnings. One of the things to learn is to finish well.

In the last 10 overs if they had played single-double, 350 would have been an easier score to achieve. So, when the batter goes to the field, do you guide them what to do or do they play however they wish to?

Yes of course we do, what do you think, do we guide them or not?

No, I don’t know, because the way the shots were hitting, they were not needed.

Sometimes that happens, it’s a game. In that many times such shots are hit, but like I said earlier, I won’t just see one thing, but focus on the entire game and discuss about it and work on it.

Could the batting order have been more flexible and tried someone else at No 3 after a long opening stand?

I think we have got a very settled batting lineup. Would not like to shuffle around too much but when the need arises, you know we are flexible about it. It’s not the case. You have seen, you have answered your question that, the first part of your question was that we’ve been flexible enough in the lower order. But yeah we do have that luxury of sending Richa in and at times we’ve got the services of Deepti Sharma who can go out there and give us that option of a left hander as well as a player who grinds and gets those singles easily. So, I think we do have that option in the lower order. But I would not like to tinker too much with the batting lineup.

Kranti against Pakistan, Charani out here today, just those two youngsters playing their first World Cup – a word on how they’ve taken to this challenge

I think they have been exceptional. You know, if you see Kranti Gaud bowling and today Sree Charani against Australia, against top quality players, she ended up giving what, 40 odd runs in her 10 overs and, and picked up those important wickets. I think they have been exceptional, both of them. Young, vibrant in the dressing room as well as vibrant on the field. And we gave it our best in the field. I think you all will agree with me on one point at least that our fielding has been very good today. That’s a big takeaway for us. They were throwing themselves and we had a good game. Unfortunately, we lost this one. But I think to answer your question, Kranti Gaud and Sree Charani have been phenomenal.

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