India’s cricketers concentrated on fielding, a crucial area needing significant improvement, during their first training session ahead of the Women’s World Cup, starting at home on September 30.
A brief
one-minute BCCI video of the session showed the squad beginning with a football-style passing warm-up before advancing to rigorous catching and throwing drills. The football drills looked fun, as Deepti Sharma and Jemimah Rodrigues were enjoying themselves. It’s not uncommon for cricketers across the world to begin sessions with football, as it helps athletes stretch their bodies and get their focus back.
The rest of the training focused on fielding, with players hitting the stumps from close range, executing sharp picks and throws, and doing catching drills with white leather balls and tennis ones, too. Wicketkeeper Richa Ghosh was seen doing some additional fielding practice as well.
Fielding has always been a major sticking point for Harmanpreet Kaur’s side. It has taken years for them to improve and get over some genetic and historic deficiencies, but the difference between them and elite sides like Australia still remains, as the recent home series against the Aussies, which they lost 1-2, highlighted.
“There’s a lot of difference [between the teams] in the fielding,” Smriti Mandhana said after the series. “Fielding part is one thing which as a team we are on a rise but we also feel there are days where we look like [good] fielding side and there are days where we don’t.
“That’s about how we find the consistency in the team in terms of fielding as a unit and not individual brilliance, but fielding together as a team. That’s one thing which we thought we have to address before the World Cup. Otherwise, for everyone, it was just about [getting] the feel of the Indian conditions and how we really want to go forward.”
The atmosphere in the camp appeared vibrant as India geared up for the ODI showpiece, commencing with a match against Sri Lanka in Guwahati on September 30. Two-time runners-up India, chasing an elusive title, head into the World Cup with Mandhana in excellent form.
The left-hander amassed 300 runs against Australia at an impressive average of 100, including a rapid 50-ball century in Delhi, the second-fastest hundred in women’s ODIs, only behind Meg Lanning’s 45-ball effort in 2012-13.
