“Absolutely. Not just the practice matches, but we had already decided in the camps held in India before we left for the World Cup,” Majumdar said ahead of India’s tournament opener against New Zealand on Friday. “We had a very good camp in Bangalore. We took the decision there. These matches before the World Cup sealed the decision for us.
“Is it any surprise? No. If you can guess, you can look at the scorecard and you’ll get it.”
It appears that the logic behind this decision is to give Harmanpreet the best chance of being able to maximize her power game once she gets set. In the position where she would otherwise bat, at four or five, Harmanpreet has largely found herself playing catch-up; His strike rate of 94.09 in 84 T20 innings since 2022 is clear evidence of this.
Muzumdar could turn to Jemimah Rodrigues if needed, but her mobility against spin makes her important at No. 4 or 5. The line of thinking is that Rodriguez is a touch player. It may be easier to select an interval with a spread field.
WPL has given us a strong base to find players
Muzumdar talked about the strengths of India’s team and also underlined how key back-up players were assigned certain roles. Such as Sajna, who enhanced his reputation as an X-factor player, was sent on an ‘A’ tour of Australia to “tick certain boxes” as part of his development.
“I think it is a collective effort not only of the Indian team or the Indian contingent but also of the NCA,” Muzumdar said. “We are in complete coordination with the coaches there who went on the India A tour to Australia. (We) had constant conversations, feedback was given even after the tour.
“I think we are trying to formalize a lot of things. As I said, apart from the Indian contingent, the India A (setup) is also very important for us so that we get a lot of players, and the bench strength is strong. Yes, we have seen the results.
“Some of the players who have come into the Indian team in the World Cup here are the contribution of WPL. Of course, domestic first-class (domestic) cricketers are not being underestimated. But WPL has given us a strong base.” Find the players.”
Shreyanka has just played 12 T20Is, but she has already established herself as a premier death bowler, capable of creating angles around the stumps like her fast bowling teammates. Along with variety in his pace, he has also shown a propensity to bowl at every stage of the game.
The WPL has also contributed to heightened levels of fitness through close monitoring and off-season camps, where physios continue to monitor players and the Athlete Monitoring System (AMS) designed to give markers on player workload. Coordinated with NCA through. Map display.
The by-product of all this, apart from the primary skills, is elevated fielding standards, which Muzumdar had highlighted as a top priority when he took charge last December.
“We have worked on it,” Muzumdar said. “Goed completely deep into it and tried to work completely individually, first of all in terms of volume in terms of fielding. And then in fitness we have looked at each individual to see how they can take their fitness level to the next level. Can be taken to the level.
“So, I think we’ve made that effort. The effort continues. I think you’ll definitely see results.”
Shashank Kishore is senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo
