India’s catching woes ahead of World Cup

The co-hosts can ill-afford to let slip chances as they chase their first global title

- Samreen Razzaqui

As India women finetune their preparations for the ODI World Cup starting on Tuesday, the batting and bowling depth may draw optimism but fielding and catching remain weaknesses that risk undermining their campaign in crunch matches

During the recent three-match ODI series loss to Australia at home, skipper Harmanpreet Kaur mentioned at least twice that missed chances cost the team. India lost the series 1-2. Smriti Mandhana too acknowledged that fielding was an area where the players needed to put in more effort before India begin their campaign. The co-hosts face Sri Lanka in their first match at Guwahati on Tuesday.

“Australia is a great opposition to test ourselves,” Mandhana said. “It was a good series in terms of understanding our strengths and where we are lacking. There's a lot of difference (between the teams) in fielding. It is one department where as a team we are on the rise, but we also feel there are days when we look like a (good) fielding side and there are days when we don't.

“That's about how we find consistency in the team in terms of fielding as a unit. Not individual brilliance, but fielding together as a team. That's one thing which we thought we have to address before the World Cup,” she said after the series concluded.