From Shafali Verma's flare to middle-order woes — takeaways from India's 5-0 series whitewash

India have recently whitewashed West Indies in the five-match Twenty20 International series in West Indies. It was the ideal practice for them ahead of the mega tournament – ICC T20 World Cup in February next year. This was the third time that a women’s team whitewashed their opponent in a bilateral T20I series. Earlier in 2019, Zimbabwe and Botswana defeated Namibia in January and April respectively. However, India’s win was predicted from the beginning as the Windies were playing without their key players and India’s youngsters Shafali Verma and Jemimah Rodrigues alongside the spinners stood up.

India thrashed West Indies by 84 runs in the first game, 10 wickets in the second, 7 wickets in the third, and 61 runs in the final one. Only one occasion Windies put up a tough fight was in the fourth game where Harmanpreet Kaur led India defended 50 runs in nine overs in a rain-affected game.

Although India didn’t face the regular captain of West Indies Stafanie Taylor and the all-rounder Deandra Dottin – arguably the best players in the world cricket right now. However, veteran Anisa Mohammed did her best in the whole series but India’s top order proved a lot more strong than their spin attack. While Veda Krishnamurthy stepped up at the right time, India’s spin attack also showed consistent performance.

Here are the takeaways from the series:

Shafali Verma shines at the top

The youngster Shafali Verma first came in the limelight when she hit a fiery century during a domestic game. From that day to break the legend Sachin Tendulkar’s 30-year-old record of scoring an international half-century and become the youngest Indian to do so – Verma has made a rapid stride to the stardom.

Her brilliant hand-eye coordination and fearless stroke play saw her scoring two consecutive fifties in the first two T20I games. Her inclusion has certainly helped another opener Smriti Mandhana as the burden has been shared in between them. In the first two games, Mandhana had a little to do as the main job was done by Shafali Verma only.

However, Verma failed to keep the momentum on in the final three games but the team management showed their faith on her and gave the chances as well. While keeping her free-flow batting in mind, it can be said that she will be the right pick for the opening slot for the upcoming mega event.

Middle-order worry continues

It has become an open secret now that India’s middle and lower middle-order crumble under the pressure and anyone can imagine the worst part when the top order fails to provide a flying start.

During the three-match ODI series ahead of the T20I series, India lost to Windies in the opening game by only 1 run. Although the openers did perform well, India need one or two players who could anchor the innings when the top order fails to perform.

However, it seemed that the experienced Veda Krishnamurthy has found her rhythm after a long time. After having played a good cameo in the first game, she showed great maturity and scored a well-made half-century in the fifth and final game where India were struggling after losing their openers very cheaply.

Jemimah Rodrigues alongside Veda steadied the ship and posted a decent total. While doing so, she has impressed everyone with her patient batting and earned the reward as well. She has been named the captain of the India A team which will take on Australia A in the next month in Australia.

Having said that, she needs to carry the form and the other batters like Deepti Sharma, Anuja Patil, Taniya Bhatia also need to perform with the bat. If not that, India could be in trouble in the T20 World Cup.

Bowling attack – hit and misses

The T20 World Cup in 2018 was held in the West Indies which is considered as one of the places of spinners and it is no surprise that India have a lot of quality spinners in the form of Poonam Yadav, Radha Yadav, Deepti Sharma etc. As usual, they put up a great show where the pitches are relatively slow.

But the problem remains there as India need quicker bowlers to play on the pitches of Australia. Ever since Jhulan Goswami announced her retirement from T20Is, India’s pace bowling attack is in a work in progress state. Pooja Vastrakar was utilized well in the series as the team used her late where her slow-paced bowling was difficult to play. However, another quick Mansi Joshi failed to get a single wicket whereas Arundhati Reddy didn’t get the chance to play.

However, Shikha Pandey is there but it would be tough for her too if she doesn’t get well support from the other end. In the quick pitches of Australia, India’s lack of pace attack could pose a big hurdle for them in their win.

Meanwhile, the players will get two more chances to check their strengths and weaknesses as they will play against Australia A in December and a tri-series involving England and Australia in January next year. Both the series will be played in Australia ahead of the T20 World Cup. An opportunity to focus on their strengths and work hard on their weaknesses, both the series will help India to decide their playing XI for the mega event as well.