India women’s head coach Ramesh Powar on Friday (March 11) said that he was surprised by the batting performance in the first 20 overs against New Zealand. At the same time, he was also confident of India bouncing back in their third match of the ICC Women’s World Cup 2022 against the West Indies on Saturday (March 12).


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On Thursday, Mithali Raj’s Team India were tied down by New Zealand’s disciplined bowling and their inability to break free from the shackles. In the chase of 261 at Seddon Park, India were 50/3 at the end of the 20 overs and were eventually 198 all out to lose by 62 runs to New Zealand.


“It was one of those days when things didn`t go our way. Honestly, I was also surprised by the way we batted in the first 20 overs. If you look back at the last six games which we played against New Zealand, we were executing our plans well. I think it is the pressure of the World Cup but I don`t want to give any excuses,” said Powar in the pre-match virtual press conference.


Asked about his conversations with the batters after the crushing loss to New Zealand, Powar remarked, “Nothing different. It’s been a process for a while. If you have watched us in the last six months or last three tours, we’ve been improving as a batting unit, we used to struggle to get to 220 and have been scoring 270-280. It is up to the individuals now. As I always say, it is the players who go out there and face that pressure and come out of it with their own skills and character.”



Powar felt that the match against an undefeated West Indies is a good opportunity for the Mithali Raj-led side to get back to winning ways. “This is the right time to put your hand up and put up performances as we have been training for last six months. We`ve been to England, Australia and came to NZ early, we got every practice opportunity which was needed. So, it is time as a group to stand up and deliver.”


He further stated that the Indian team is well aware of how to react and perform against a variety of bowling attacks in the World Cup. “We have been following a particular process for a long period of time on how to address particular bowling attacks or bowlers, be it be off-spinners, pacers, left-arm spinners or leg-spinners. Everyone in this batting unit knows how to react to certain bowling attacks.


“There is nothing as such that we will give an exam tomorrow and today we will study of what we will do tomorrow. It’s been a process for a while. Everyone knows where we stand as a group, batting or bowling groups. There’s no need of putting a lot of pressure on my team. They will react well and respond normally with great character whenever they have been pushed in the corner.”


(with IANS inputs)