Indian captain Mithali Raj on Sunday lamented that her team “lack of intent” in all three departments of the game in the opening ODI and hinted that the team-combination may change in the second match against England.
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India suffered an eight-wicket defeat at the hands of the hosts in the first match of the series here on Sunday.
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He also indicated that the team composition will be changed for the second match on Wednesday.
“We lacked intention in all three departments. Another (batsman) in the top five could have stayed there and scored some runs. The bowlers could have been more consistent in their length, and our fielding needed more effort,” Raj said after the match.
“England have a very experienced bowling attack, they are in their own conditions and know what lengths to bowl. We will come prepared and show a little more intention in the next match.”
Asked about the number of dot balls India accepted while batting, Raj said, “(That’s) something that we need to address till the next game.”
Raj, who scored 72 off 108 balls for India, said she expected her team’s fast bowlers to be effective, but none other than Jhulan Goswami could do much.
“The other two couldn’t find their rhythm,” she said.
“We will see composition for the next game, maybe bring a spinner,” the captain said.
Asked if there could be a change in the batting order in the next match as well, he said, “We will look into that as well.”
England captain Heather Knight, on the other hand, is happy with her team’s clinical performance.
“Katherine and Anya set the tone with the ball. This time the pitch has a bit more momentum so we managed to go through some of our short-ball plans, (they were more effective than the Tests,” he said.
“It was a good day at the office so clinically to finish it.”
Asked about the short balls bowled by their bowlers, Knight said, “It was a plan, we felt the pitch had the pace to be effective, something that India were not used to playing on slow wickets.
“The bowlers have worked on it, getting options for different pitches and different scenarios.”
About the fight between Katherine Brunt and India’s teenage batting sensation Shafali Verma, she said, “It’s really exciting to see youngsters coming in and watching two openers catch their nerve and win that fight.”
“It’s set to be a beautiful series. It was a great cricket wicket, a little bit for the bowlers but a lot of batting pitch.”
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