Women's T20 World Cup 2024: Poonam Yadav backs India to bounce back against Pakistan after New Zealand drubbing

Former Indian cricketer Poonam Yadav has shared her insights on Team India's performance and strategy moving forward after their recent loss against New Zealand. India's run rate currently stands at -2.99, which makes big victories essential in their remaining three matches against Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Australia. India will need to regroup quickly and address the imbalances in their team composition when they face arch-rivals Pakistan in a crucial Group A match of the Women's T20 World Cup on October 6.

Speaking exclusively on Star Sports Press Room during the ICC T20 Women's World Cup, Yadav shared her thoughts on what the Indian Women's team might be thinking after their loss to New Zealand and what to expect moving forward. "The Indian women's team will bounce back because, after a big loss in the first match, as an Indian, you always come back stronger. I believe the team will learn a lot from this first loss and make a strong comeback. The first match doesn't decide anything, but now it's important to maintain a good run rate in the remaining matches. You have to win decisively and come back stronger. Your preparation needs to be solid, and the comeback must be impactful. You have to overcome all obstacles to stay competitive in this tournament."

Yadav also commented on the similarities between playing in India and the UAE, saying, "Whenever a team goes to play a match, you have time for preparation. You settle in, adjust to the heat, and understand the wicket conditions. I saw an interview where coach Amol Muzumdar mentioned that the wickets here are similar to those in India. He was saying it won’t be too difficult to play on these wickets because they are quite similar to Indian and UAE pitches. It’s not that challenging. Weather-wise, too, the conditions in India and the UAE are similar, so it’s not a big difference."

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In addition, Yadav offered her perspective on where the team should focus in the upcoming games. She said, "I feel they should focus more on the bowling all-rounders rather than batting all-rounders because their roles in the team are different. If you compare it to Australia, their all-rounders are more batting-focused, whereas for India, they are bowling all-rounders. A quality all-rounder who can contribute 30-35 runs in critical situations is crucial. The strength of the Indian team has always been in having proper bowlers. If you focus more on quality spinners, you’re likely to concede fewer runs. But if you rely more on batting all-rounders, you can add depth and chase higher totals, like 180 runs."

Yadav also spoke about the ideal batting order for Jemimah Rodrigues and Harmanpreet Kaur, saying, "I would prefer Jemimah to bat at No. 3 because she can make use of the field when only two fielders are outside the circle. Harmanpreet is better suited for big hitting, whereas Jemimah can rotate strike with singles and doubles and take advantage of loose balls and convert it into a 4 or 6. No. 3 is a crucial position, so having Jemimah there and Harmanpreet at No. 4 would be ideal, as you need both a good finisher and someone who can hit big."