India Women (PC: BCCI) India made the chase look easy and won in a canter, but if you are an Indian fan, there are enough reasons to be worried ahead of the game against Australia at Lord’s on 28 June. It was as bad as it could get for India in the field. Four catches were dropped in the powerplay and nothing seemed to go according to plan.

In fact, this was one of the poorest fielding efforts in recent memory from Harmanpreet Kaur and her team. Multiple no-balls, coupled with several misfields, suggested India had not yet recovered from the trauma of the defeat to South Africa. It started with Yastika Bhatia.

She was unable to get to the ball despite the skier giving her ample time to settle underneath it. Then it was Radha Yadav, whose nightmare run in the field continued. Yet again, it was a straightforward chance and, much like in the South Africa contest, it went in and out of her hands.

Then it was Nandni Sharma’s turn. Two dropped chances in quick succession left Indian fans stunned into silence. In the press box, there was a sense of disbelief.

India are not usually this poor in the field and it was clear that something was affecting the players mentally. Nandni eventually held on to a chance off her own bowling and Bangladesh finally lost their second wicket. Even after that, India remained lacklustre.

It was fitting, in a way, that the skipper would misfield off the very last ball of the innings to complete a dismal outing in the field. Bangladesh capitalised on India’s generosity and managed a competitive 136. India, who needed to improve their net run rate, had probably conceded 15 runs too many.

If you were coach Amol Muzumdar, you would be seriously worried about what was happening with the team. In training, they catch well, but every time they step into a match situation, the fielding seems to let them down. It was left to the batters to redeem the situation and keep India in the hunt.

Shafali Verma, who was dropped by Marufa Akter early in her innings, made the most of the reprieve and scored a breezy half-century that should give her plenty of confidence heading into the Lord’s encounter. Yastika also played some pleasing shots and spent some much-needed time in the middle. In the end, the job was done with ease and India ensured they remain alive in the competition.

But, as mentioned earlier, there are still plenty of concerns that remain unaddressed, with very little time left to find solutions ahead of the do-or-die encounter against Australia on Sunday. Brief Scores: India 139/5 (Shafali 53) beat Bangladesh 136/8 (Ferdous 33; Radha 3/28) by five wickets with 19 balls to spare. The post appeared first on .