Two weeks ago, India arrived in Visakhapatnam as the only team, along with England, to have won their first two matches of the 2025 Women’s ODI World Cup. There was an air of expectation that this team would gather momentum in the tournament with victories over the big guns in the subsequent matches.
A fortnight later, however, the mood has changed. From soaring expectations among fans, India now find themselves in a tough scenario as they gear up to take on New Zealand in the first of two crucial matches at the D.Y.Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai on Thursday.
The inability to close out matches from winning positions has become the biggest talking point for India. Addressing that issue, head coach Amol Muzumdar accepted the team’s failings, adding that the management had emphasised on the need to start well and crucially, end their matches strongly.
“Yeah, we accept that we were not able to finish well. We have had a very nice discussion about it with the team and hopefully going forward we can finish the games off. We always reiterate within the team that it’s important to start well but it’s also important to finish better,” he said at the pre-match press conference.
India, whose training session had been moved ahead by an hour due to the possibility of unseasonal showers, trained earnestly with the left-arm spin duo of Radha Yadav and Sree Charani, along with Deepti Sharma first off the blocks. They went through their bowling on a strip that was a few pitches adjacent to the one to be used for the match.
The match pitch – different to the one used for the Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh fixture – presented a barren look, with not as much grass sprinkling along the side of the surface as the one on Monday.
Jemimah’s batting session
Hometown girl Jemimah Rodrigues, who did not play against England, was the first to come out to bat on Wednesday and over the course of the next two hours, underwent a long, three-part batting session.
Six minutes after training began on Wednesday, she was the first batter to take guard, all alone as the rest of her teammates trained in the smaller ground behind the venue.
The right-hander started by taking on throwdown specialists before moving to the net bowlers and eventually facing the pace of Arundhati Reddy and then the spin of Sree Charani in a 30-minute long session. It was somewhat an arresting sight to see one of India’s better batters in recent times, all alone in the nets, exemplifying her situation perfectly.
Rodrigues later joined her teammates for a second batting session at the smaller ground. Vice-captain Smriti Mandhana observed her from the side, as she took on the net bowlers and even had a chat later. Both then left the ground together after finishing practice. A third and final session was the shortest, as Rodrigues faced throwdowns from the coaches towards the fag end of the training session.
When quizzed about her omission from Sunday’s match, Muzumdar said that the conditions in Indore dictated the decision, adding the Rodrigues had taken the decision well. “It was one of the tougher calls because given the circumstances and the conditions in Indore, we opted for the sixth bowling option. And that’s why she had to sit out looking at that combination. It was a tough call. She took it really very nicely and that’s what Jemi is all about,” he said.
At the smaller ground, the likes of Mandhana, Pratika Rawal and Kaur faced up to a varying group of spinners and net bowlers for almost two hours. The trio kept alternating between the pacers’ and spinners’ nets, as the likes of Deepti and Sneh Rana along with Amanjot Kaur and Kranti Gaud also had short bowling stints, a day before the game.
The one notable absentee was Renuka Singh Thakur, who did not bowl through the three-hour training session.
New Zealand train under lights
Once India finished their training, New Zealand turned up with almost their full squad in attendance. The match holds greater significance for them as a loss could further dampen their chances of qualifying for the semifinals.
Another factor to consider for Thursday is the possibility of rain. As per Accuweather, a downpour is likely at around 8 pm on Thursday, with sunny conditions prevailing during the day. Both teams will hope that the weather gods take mercy and a near-capacity crowd, that is expected to fill every seat, gets to watch a cracking post-Diwali contest.
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