India squad for CWG 2022: Top-heavy team looks short on lower-order firepower – Firstcricket News, Firstpost

India’s squad for the 2022 Commonwealth Games was announced on Monday with some calls that were expected and some decisions that raised eyebrows. Women’s cricket will be featuring at the Commonwealth Games for the first time in the 2022 edition and India are aiming to be among the medal winners.

The Neetu David-led selection committee has picked a 15-member squad with three players in the standby list for the multilateral assignment. India are placed in Group A of the T20 competition with Australia, Barbados, and Pakistan. Group B comprises Sri Lanka, England, New Zealand, and South Africa. The top two teams from each group will qualify for the semi-finals.

Is the squad good enough to bring a medal back home from Birmingham? We take a look at its strengths and weaknesses.

Top-heavy batting selection

Most of the pure batters that India have picked are top-order players with an exception of Harmanpreet Kaur and Harleen Deol. Deol’s inclusion is also one of the few changes that the selection committee has made to the squad that recently travelled to Sri Lanka.

Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Sabbhineni  Meghana and Jemimah Rodrigues are all openers and even Yastika Bhatia, who is expected to keep the wickets at CWG, is a top-order batter. With Harmanpreet expected to bat at No 4, it will be tricky how India fit in these batters.

Rodrigues batted at No 5 in Sri Lanka and scored a match-winning 36 not out off 27 balls in the first T20I. She could be given a similar role at CWG but her lack of power-hitting skills could work as a disadvantage. Meghana, who only got 39 runs from three matches in Sri Lanka, could be the one who could be either put on the bench or played lower down the order in favour of Rodrigues or Yastika. Whatever India do, some of the batters are bound to play out of their positions.

Who will be the finisher?

While the top-order has a lot of batters, there’s a lack of competition to be the finisher. While there are top all-rounders like Deepti Sharma and Sneh Rana who can contribute with the bat, their strike rates of 92.03 and 102.27 respectively in T20Is don’t generate a lot of confidence. Pooja Vastrakar has been in the top form off late and can be the trump card in this department with her strike rate of 131.42. However, this is where the omission of Richa Ghosh also sticks out like a sore thumb.

The young keeper-batter known for her pyrotechnics has been out of form for a while and that led her to her axing. Richa’s omission has robbed India of a power-hitting option down the order. Her replacement Taniyaa Bhatia’s strike rate was well discussed after the squad announcement. Taniyaa is exceptional with her glovework but she is still not known for big-hitting. Selectors could have kept Richa in the squad to give captain Harmanpreet an extra option down the order.

There’s also an option to make Harmanpreet bat at No 5 to balance the batting order but that may not be the best decision both from the team and players’ perspectives. It would give the star batter less time to settle and then change gears. We know how Harmanpreet likes to take her time at the start. Also, delaying her entry would dent India’s batting potential.

Lack of a leggie

Coming to the spin department, it’s no surprise that veteran Poonam Yadav has been put in the standby list after not playing a single game on the Sri Lanka tour. With her lack of pace, the leg-spinner has found it hard to keep up with the demands of the fast-developing T20 cricket in the women’s game. However, her exclusion has left India without a genuine wrist-spinner who could have been an x-factor.

Most of the spin duties are expected to be shouldered by Rajeshwari Gayakwad and Deepti and while both the tweakers are top-class in their own rights, one can’t ignore the one-dimensional look of India’s spin department.

Thin pace department

With only two genuine pacers in the side, it’s clear that India are going to be reliant on spinners in the CWG. Renuka Singh impressed in Sri Lanka ODIs with seven wickets in three matches and she can be a good option with Meghna Singh with the new ball.

All in all, India have a solid bowling attack and a top-order that can give them strong starts, however, the real test would be how the middle and lower-order perform in the crunch games and that could decide India’s destiny.

Likely XI for 1st match: Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet Kaur, Yastika Bhatia, Deepti Sharma, Pooja Vastrakar, Sneh Rana, Meghna Singh, Renuka Thakur, Rajeshwari Gaikwad

India squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Smriti Mandhana (VC), Shafali Verma, Sabbhineni Meghana, Taniyaa Bhatia (Wk), Yastika Bhatia (Wk), Deepti Sharma, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Pooja Vastrakar, Meghna Singh, Renuka Singh, Jemimah Rodrigues, Radha Yadav, Harleen Deol, Sneh Rana.

Standby: Simran Dil Bahadur, Richa Ghosh, Poonam Yadav.

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