Indian women's team needs an 'ideological change', reckons Ramesh Powar

While the Indian women's team showed glimpses of brilliance on England tour, they were not good enough to beat the hosts in the series. The team lost the ODI and T20I series by a 1-2 margin. Indian women’s coach Ramesh Powar feels that Indian women need an ‘ideological change’ to transform themselves into a fearless unit.

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While the likes of Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma have played well, the middle order has not capitalized on the starts given by the openers. Mithali Raj has scored runs but her strike rate is in question while others like Harmanpreet Kaur, Deepti Sharma, Taniya Bhatia, and Punam Raut have struggled.

"Mithali is batting well but we need support from at least one more batter to put pressure on opponents in middle order after Powerplays," Powar said at the end of the series.

Powar, however, feels that ideological change is something that cannot be imposed overnight.

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"We have to be fearless. I can't force them in first series. They have been playing with some ideology and we can't make drastic changes. We have to assess what suits them," the former India off-spinner said.

"To get them out of it (current slow batting in middle overs) (we have to) convince them and to do that, it takes a lot of communication. Fearless is how modern cricket will be played." Powar admitted that moulding efforts haven't worked so far.

"There are two ways. Either mould them (current lot) or draft in other middle order players to up the ante. As simple as that," said Powar

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Powar further indicated he will try to tweak the middle order and bring in players who can perform consistently for the team. The coach also highlighted the need for genuine pace bowlers who can support Jhulan Goswami.

"Till the World Cup, we need to find a way to get a middle order where we can say that they can surely get us 250. It's up to all the stakeholders. The captain, the vice captain, selectors and myself, we will discuss these things."

"We need to enhance the fast bowling department," he added, saying: "We are only looking at Jhulan to perform. There has to be some support for her."