Women in Blue Tackle Key Challenges in Series Decider Against West Indies

India’s series-deciding women’s T20I against the West Indies has raised several concerns, with doubts over Harmanpreet Kaur’s availability, a muddled middle order, and sloppy fielding leaving the team with much to address. Despite winning the opening match of the three-match series, India faltered in the second game, allowing the West Indies to level the series.

With heavy dew settling in, Indian bowlers failed to make an impact as Hayley Matthews and Qiana Joseph took control. Toss has been a deciding factor in the recent games at DY Patil Stadium, and with little time to regroup, the Indian team must fix its weak points.

While stand-in captain Smriti Mandhana has had a strong series with a couple of half-centuries, the middle-order has been inconsistent, and Harmanpreet’s absence has compounded the problem.

In the last match, India promoted Deepti Sharma to provide stability for the younger, less experienced batters like Raghavi Bist, but she couldn’t make a significant contribution. India’s fortunes would have worsened if not for Richa Ghosh’s quick cameo. In the series decider on Thursday, India needs to be more aggressive with their power-hitting. Despite an impressive start to the series, medium-fast bowler Titas Sadhu struggled, and as West Indies captain Matthews looks to secure her first series win in India, the Indian bowlers need to step up and find solutions to counter the dew factor.