Two failures may force India to tinker with team composition

India Women's World Cup campaign suffered a big jolt when Australia successfully chased down the highest total in the championship's history four days after South Africa handed them a three-wicket defeat. India women’s think tank, led by Amol Muzumdar, will now consider the inclusion of a sixth bowler and bring more fluidity in the batting order.

That India fielded an unchanged side against Australia after they failed to defend 252 against South Africa came as a surprise to many. In fact, the five-bowler attack showed a lack of variety when Nadine de Klerk guided her team to victory with an unbeaten 94.

On Sunday night, Australia completed a record chase of 331 for a three-wicket win as Allysa Healy led from the front with a marvellous 142 off 107 balls.

Healy and other Aussie batters took the attack to India's pacers — Kranti Gaud and Amanjot Kaur — exposing the imprudence of their five-bowler strategy.

Gaud had a second off day in the middle and gave away 73 runs in nine overs, while Kaur conceded 68 runs in her nine overs.

"I think Charani was getting quite a bit of spin, the left-arm spinner. She was actually the pick of the bowlers, and I think we identified that and thought if we could capitalise on some of the pace bowlers, then that would be handy knowing they've only got five bowlers in their attack," Healy said in the post-match press conference.

"But it wasn't really a distinct plan as such. It just sort of panned out that way on the day and I think with the wicket sliding on, it probably enabled us to do it," she added.

Two back-to-back walloping will surely dent India's morale going into another big-ticket match against England next Sunday in Indore.

“Obviously, after this game (against Australia), we’ll have a look at it (five-bowler approach) and I'm sure the team management will have a proper discussion about this and then we'll take the right call as we approach the next game. I'm sure about it,” Muzumdar said in the post-match press conference.

What are the options?
India can think of bringing in left-arm spinner Radha Yadav into the mix if the conditions permit in Indore and the subsequent matches at Navi Mumbai. If the team is looking to bolster the pace battery, they may also look to include Renuk Singh Thakur, who went wicketless but bowled with considerable control against Pakistan.

India may also change the approach to batting order, which hurt them badly in the two defeats.

Against Australia, after Smriti Mandhana and Pratika Rawal added 155 runs in 24.3 overs, India could have experimented with explosive wicketkeeper batter Richa Ghosh promoted, but they stuck Harleen Deol at No 3 and skipper Harmanpreet Kaur at No 4. Deol's 38 (off 42 balls) and Harmanpreet's 22 (off 17 balls) allowed the Aussies to find a small foothold.

Even then, India were placed at 294 for 4 in 42.5 overs. But while trying to force the pace, they lost the next six wickets for 36 runs to be bowled out with seven balls to spare.

"The way we started, we thought if we could have added more 30-40 runs on the board, we missed runs in the last six-seven overs," Harmanpreet said at the presentation.

However, Muzumdar was not ready to change the batting lineup even though he acknowledged that the lineup could be made flexible.

“I think we have got a very settled batting lineup. We wouldn't like to shuffle it around too much, but when the need arises, you know we are flexible about it. We do have the luxury of sending Richa in, and at times, we've got the services of Deepti Sharma, who can go out there and give us that option of a left-hander as well as a player who grinds and gets those singles easily.

“So, I think we do have that option in the lower order. But I would not like to tinker too much with the batting lineup,” said Muzumdar.

Indian batters should learn from Australia's batting on Sunday when they employed conventional sweeps and reverse sweeps to unsettle spinners. While calling the game against South Africa, former England men's captain Nasser Hussain pointed to Indian batters not exploring all sides of the ground, allowing Laura Wolvaardt to keep a tight lid on scoring.

Muzumdar, however, hoped that batters and bowlers would find a way to apply finishing touches to their respective jobs. “I always say this …we need a good start, but we need a better finish. So, if you see the finish that we had in the South Africa game, as far as bowling is concerned in the last five overs, we ended up losing that game,” he added.

India have a week to chop and change before England and New Zealand test their ability to adapt.