On a sticky wicket after a mixed start to the campaign, India will look to fix their batting struggles to bolster their net run rate when they take on bottom-placed Sri Lanka in their third and penultimate Group A match of the T20 Women's World Cup on Wednesday. It has not been smooth sailing for the Indians in the showpiece event so far, having lost to New Zealand by 58 runs in their tournament-opener and then scampering home in 18.5 overs against arch-rivals Pakistan while chasing a modest 105.
India's main problem in the tournament so far is the performance of their batters, especially the explosive opening combination of Shafali Verma and vice-captain Smriti Mandhana.
While Shafali scored just 2 and 32 in the first two games, Mandhana also faired poorly managing 12 and 7 runs.
And it's time the duo fires in unison to ease the pressure on the middle-order.
To make matters worse for India, skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, who scored 15 and 29 retired hurt, is doubtful for the match against Sri Lanka after suffering a neck injury while batting against Pakistan.
The likes of Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma and Richa Ghosh too need to step up with the bat and share the burden of responsibility.
While medium pacer Arundhati Reddy sparkled against Pakistan with the ball, returning with figures of 3/19, she would look for more support from the likes of fellow pace colleagues Renuka Singh and Pooja Vastrakar, who didn't play the previous game because of an injury.
The Indian team relies heavily on Deepti Sharma in the spin department but she hasn't quite managed to hit her strides in the tournament so far.
Young off-spinner Shreyanka Patil and leg-spinner Asha Shobhana have done a decent job, picking up a few wickets.
The Indians
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