India benched Jemimah Rodrigues vs England to strengthen their bowling, with Renuka Singh Thakur coming in. Smriti Mandhana called it a tough but necessary decision. India lost by 4 runs and now face a must-win match against New Zealand to stay in semifinal contention.
In a bold selection move, India decided to bench Jemimah Rodrigues for their high-stakes clash against England at the Holkar Stadium in Indore. The Mumbai batter had been struggling for form this season, managing just 65 runs in four matches at a strike rate of 103.17. With her inconsistency becoming a growing concern, the team opted to bring in Renuka Singh Thakur to strengthen the bowling attack.
England, batting first, put up a solid total of 288 runs. During the chase, the hosts looked well on course for their third win of the season, particularly after strong performances from Smriti Mandhana, who scored 88, and skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, who added 70. However, momentum shifted drastically following their dismissals. Deepti Sharma tried to anchor the chase with a well-crafted half-century, but her efforts fell just short as India suffered a narrow four-run defeat.
In earlier matches, Indiaโs lack of a sixth bowling option was seen as a key factor in their losses to South Africa and Australia. To address that, the team chose to bolster their bowling attack for the England fixture by dropping Jemimah. However, the absence of a reliable finisher was felt in the final overs. Reflecting on the decision post-match, Mandhana acknowledged the trade-off and hinted that the team composition could see further changes in the upcoming games.
โIn the last two matches, we thought that five bowling options were not good enough, especially on a flat track like Indore or [the way] the second game in Visakhapatnam played out. We are not privileged enough to have batters who could bowl a few overs, which a lot of other teams can do. So on a flatter track, we thought that five bowling options could cost us, especially if one bowler has a bad day,โ Mandhana said in the post-match press conference.
Very tough call to drop a player like Jemi: Mandhana
โIt was definitely a very tough call to drop a player like Jemi. But sometimes you need to do those sorts of things to get the balance right. It is not like this [combination] is going to be there [for the rest of the tournament]. We’ll have to see how the situation is, how the wicket will play and then we’ll take a call,โ she added.
The defeat has put India in a tight spot as they are in a complicated position to qualify for the ODI World Cup semis. Next up, the team play New Zealand, in what is now a must-win game for the hosts.