With their World Cup semi-final qualification confirmed following the win over New Zealand on Thursday, India opted for light training on Saturday ahead of their last league phase match against Bangladesh at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai.
Only five members – Radha Yadav, Arundhati Reddy, Uma Chetry, Harleen Deol and Amanjot Kaur – were seen going through the drills at the nets at the main venue on a cloudy afternoon. The sun chose to play hide-and-seek at the start, before coming out in full glory, eventually going back in hiding.
As has been the case with the other two matches, a fresh pitch will be used for Sunday’s fixture. The 22 yards looked devoid of any grass, with indications that it could be another surface full of runs.
Backup wicketkeeper Chetry took the gloves from the 24th over against New Zealand after Richa Ghosh left the field to receive treatment on her injured finger that she sustained from a Renuka Singh Thakur delivery in the seventh over. She was batting against throwdown specialists as well as the likes of Reddy, Yadav and Kaur, and later had a throwdown session just outside the net. She had multiple hits in the nets, alternating with Harleen Deol first, then with Kaur, facing up the trio and the throwdown specialists.
The 23-year-old’s batting stint was perhaps an early indication that she could be in line to make her full ODI and World Cup debut against Bangladesh on Sunday. She has played seven T20Is for India so far and was drafted into the World Cup squad after Yastika Bhatia was ruled out due to a knee injury. Bowling coach Aavishkar Salvi, however, confirmed that Ghosh was fine and was being monitored by the medical team.
“With regards to Richa’s fitness, I think she’s fine and I mean the (medical) team is taking care of it. I mean they are still discussing so I don’t have the exact updates about it but she’s fine, she looks fine,” he said.
The likes of Yadav and Reddy have been used as net bowlers for the entire duration of the league phase, bowling at various batters under the hot sun. It remains to be seen whether either or both of them find a place in the playing XI for Sunday’s clash.
Stressing on their importance within the setup, Salvi said that there was a focus on working with the reserves to further improve their strengths and none of them are ruled out of getting a chance when an opportunity comes up.
“The conversation with the coaching group and between the coaching group and the players is generally the kind of mindset what they are having, the kind of areas they need to work upon, the strengths that we want them to operate onto the games and we work towards it. So that doesn’t rule out even if they are not getting a chance, they still turn up for the practice sessions and they are very keen on working on their different aspects. So, the quality of their bowling they try to work upon. Today also, if you see they were into the nets, even Amanjot was there in the nets,” he said.
The other player who had an extended batting stint was Deol. The right-hander also faced up to the three bowlers and the throwdown specialists with the coaches watching from outside.
Deol, who has been India’s desginated number three of the tournament, did not come out to bat at that position in the last match, with Jemimah Rodrigues getting a promotion, with the hosts looking for quick runs.
After finishing her stint at the nets, Deol also batted against the net bowlers on the side of the ground, using her feet against the bowlers and employing the sweep shot more than once. After finishing her bowling stint, Kaur, who was omitted from the playing XI for Rodrigues, took some throwdowns before facing up to the net bowlers.
Bangladesh, who were scheduled to train under lights, could not start their practice session on time at 6 pm. owing to a heavy downpour at the venue. They, however, did come to practice around 30 minutes after the scheduled time.
The only avenue for the Nigar Sultana Joty-led side on Sunday is to try and avoid the wooden spoon with a win over the hosts. They are currently in eighth place with three points from seven matches.
Apart from the players and officials, one other factor that could have a say on Sunday’s match could be the rain. As per the Accuweather website, there is likely to be a downpour at various points of the afternoon from 2-4 pm and later in the evening from 5-8 pm. India’s win against New Zealand was also hit by rain between the innings, with NZ’s innings reduced to 44 overs after India batted for 49.
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