“We always give them a fight, we were not going to give them anything easily, that is something I am proud of my team.” Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur speaks about the team’s ability to challenge the Australians on the field.
The Indian team led by skipper Harmanpreet Kaur hosted Australia for an all-format series including a one-off Test match followed by a three-match ODI series and then a three-match T20I series. India clinched a historic victory in the red-ball format. The home side suffered a whitewash (3-0) in the ODI series.
However, the home side bounced back with an emphatic 9-wicket victory in the 1st of the three-match T20I series. The visitors, Australia came back in style to clinch the next two T20Is to seal a clinical T20I series victory. One of the glaring differences between both sides was their efforts in the field. The visitors were clinical in the field, while on the other hand, the home side was a bit sloppy in the field as a result, they failed to build pressure on the Australians.
“As a team, we have learned a lot. Fielding is something we were not up to the mark and after this break, we will work on our fitness and fielding to come back stronger.”
Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur reflects on the areas of improvement moving forward. The women in blue will have a decent break to reflect on the various aspects of their recent performances in the white-ball format to come out as an improved and stronger unit, the next time they step onto the field.
However, it wasn’t all so gloomy for the Indian team as they managed to dominate the Aussies and put them under pressure in patches right throughout the white-ball series but failed to do it long enough to get the home side over the line. One of the biggest positives from the white ball series was the kind of fearless approach displayed by the Indian batters right throughout the series.
Harmanpreet Kaur credits youngsters in her post-match chat. #CricketTwitter #INDvAUS pic.twitter.com/3tBLGT0bjU
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“We always give them a fight, we were not going to give them anything easily, that is something I am proud of my team. A lot to learn from them (Australia) as well.” Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur is pleased with her side’s ability to challenge a champion side like Australia and make them earn their success.
The Australian team who are also known as a team of all-rounders managed to deliver clinical performances throughout the series using their frontline five bowling options which is a rare sight. “The bowlers have been outstanding throughout the series and really proud of the group. We got 9 bowling options, but our ability to trust only those 5 (bowlers) in the last 5 games is outstanding.” The Australian skipper Alyssa Healy is pleased with the fact that the frontline bowlers managed to deliver brilliant performances with the ball throughout the series. The leg-spinner from Australia Georgia Wareham and the star Indian all-rounder Deepti Sharma were the top wicket-takers with 7 wickets each in the ODIs and 5 wickets each in the T20Is.
(Quotes sourced from Rediff.com)