Women's World Cup: Coach Ramesh Powar wants India's senior players to put their hand up and win games
India Today
India women's head coach Ramesh Powar said that the batting performance of the team in the first 20 overs against New Zealand surprised him. At the same time, Powar was confident that his side would bounce back.
India women's head coach Ramesh Powar has urged the team's senior players to take more responsibility starting with the ICC Women's World Cup match against West Indies in Hamilton on Saturday.
The Indian top-order failed to fire once again as the Mithali Raj-led side scored just 50 runs off 20 overs while chasing 261 to eventually suffer a 62-run loss against hosts New Zealand on Thursday.
"It was one of those days when things didn`t go our way. Honestly, I was also surprised by the way we batted in the first 20 overs. If you look back at the last six games which we played against New Zealand, we were executing our plans well. I think it is the pressure of the World Cup but I don`t want to give any excuses," Ramesh Powar told reporters in the pre-match virtual press conference.
Powar explained how India's batting has been improved since the last three tours and now the team have been scoring more than 280 runs.
"Nothing different. It's been a process for a while. If you have watched us in the last six months or last three tours, we've been improving as a batting unit, we used to struggle to get to 220 and have been scoring 270-280. It is up to the individuals now. As I always say, it is the players who go out there and face that pressure and come out of it with their own skills and character," added Power.
Powar believes that the match against West Indies is a great opportunity for team India to get back to winning ways. "This is the right time to put your hand up and put up performances as we have been training for the last six months. We`ve been to England, Australia and came to NZ early, we got every practice opportunity which was needed. So, it is time as a group to stand up and deliver," he pointed out.
He further added that the Mithali Raj-led side is well aware of how to perform well against the variation of bowling attacks in the World Cup. "We have been following a particular process for a long period of time on how to address particular bowling attacks or bowlers, be it be off-spinners, pacers, left-arm spinners, or leg-spinners. Everyone in this batting unit knows how to react to certain bowling attacks."
