After the Indian cricket team’s 0-3 loss to Australia in the ICC Women’s ODI Championship series last week, the BCCI has decided to set up a committee to review the hosts’ performance.
The women’s committee will comprise of COA member Diana Edulji, ODI captain Mithali Raj, T20I captain Harmanpreet Kaur, selection committee chief Hemlata Kala and Ratnakar Shetty (convenor).They will meet on March 28 to review the Australia series and discuss the way forward, according to PTI.
Top among the things to be discussed will be creating a pool of players to improve India’s bench strength, starting with a national camp. The selectors have been asked to handpick a pool of pacers, spinners and wicketkeepers and test them in a camp at the National Cricket Academy beginning later this month.
“There is a definite need for more quality pace bowlers and spinners. The Australia series showed us that. They played our spinners rather easily while our team struggled against theirs. We also need more firepower in the batting department,” Edulji, who is also a former India captain, told PTI.
Looking ahead, the board is planning to scout for talent from all parts of the country including the North East.
“The recent tweaks in the domestic structure, including the introduction of the U-16 category, will take a while to take shape. But there is still a need to find the right available talent from all parts of India including North East, an area which has not been explored much,” Edulji said.
The popularity of the women’s game has shot up ever since India played in the World Cup final in England last year. The cricketers have gotten better contracts as well.
“Since they have all the facilities now, they must perform consistently. That is the only way to keep the interest in women’s cricket alive,” summed up Edulji.
The team’s next challenge is the home T20I tri-series involving England and Australia, beginning Thursday in Mumbai.
With inputs from PTI