Former West Indies fast bowler Ian Bishop has underlined a familiar concern for the India women’s team: the lack of potent seamers. In his view, bowling depth was a major reason India failed to build on their ODI World Cup success and instead suffered an early exit from the Women’s T20 World Cup.
India’s bowling unit struggled in two defining matches. Against South Africa, they had to defend just 159 and were still in control before a costly fielding lapse shifted the momentum. Against Australia, they had 171 on the board and even reduced the defending champions to 72/3 at one stage, but they still could not close out the game as Ellyse Perry and Ashleigh Gardner took charge.
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India also made a change for the Australia clash, bringing in Kranti Gaud for Nandani Sharma. The move did not have the desired impact, with Gaud bowling only one over and conceding 12 runs.
Asked whether the replacement was the right call, Ian Bishop said: “I cannot comment too much on individual selection decisions, but India’s bigger concern is their pace attack. Even after the injuries they suffered before the tournament and Shreyanka Patil’s injury during it, they still need to identify two quality seamers before the next T20 World Cup. There has to be a deliberate effort to find effective pacers who can complement their strong spin attack.”
Bishop also felt India left a few runs out in the middle and that a total of around 170 was only just par against Australia.
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“I think 170 was around par, but India really needed to score beyond that. In hindsight, that is where the discussion around Jemimah’s innings comes in. She eventually had to retire, leaving Richa Ghosh with only a ball or two to make an impact India perhaps could have utilised Richa’s power-hitting earlier. Against a batting line-up as strong as Australia’s, a total well above 170 was always going to be the safer target,” Bishop added.
