Mobilenews24x7 Bureau
Mumbai, Jan 24: India ODI captain Mithali Raj said that there will always be areas to address ahead of the team’s departure for New Zealand series and 2022 Women’s Cricket World Cup. The veteran batter added that in order to put up 250-270 totals, a top-order batter will have to bat through the innings in the showpiece event.
“There will always be areas to address. No team is perfect. We will be looking at putting up a total like 250-270 consistently. And that requires a top-order batter to play through the innings and be consistent,” said Mithali at the virtual press conference on Sunday.
The skipper further said that the team will require one-two partnerships to reach the 250-plus mark. “There has to be a partnership or two of 50-50. The more the top order contributes, I think that way we will be able to score 250-270.
“Very rarely middle order or lower middle order scores the bulk of runs. As a batting unit, it is important all of us take the responsibility of playing our roles,” she said. Mithali highlighted that the India women’s cricket has seen good progress with the improvement of players at domestic level and exposure at overseas leagues. “There are always expectations when you play at the highest level and also when the team is doing well. In these last four years, I think the standard in domestic cricket has improved massively.
“This season I have seen a lot many players scoring 100s. Also, a lot many girls have got an opportunity to play leagues abroad. So, many players have got the exposure. Players have got match time. They have also taken the responsibility of working on their game. It has been a good progress for women’s cricket,” she added. When asked about players’ strike-rates, the India skipper said that playing an innings to win and build partnerships is more important than strike rate. “As for me, I believe that cricket is a game played on situation. We need to have a healthy strike rate but we will not only entirely focus on strike rate.
“It is important to play an innings to win and build partnership and that happens not because of strike rate but because of you apply and play according to situation on the ground,” she signed off. India is scheduled to leave for New Zealand on January 24. They will play one T20I and five ODIs against New Zealand between February 9-24. The Mithali-led side will then participate in the World Cup. The eight-team world tournament will be played in a round-robin format followed by knockout. India will kickstart their World Cup campaign against Pakistan on March 6.
