Muzumdar on dropping Jemimah from the England game, says that it was ‘one of the toughest decisions’ to make.
Muzumdar: Dropping Rodrigues against England ‘one of the toughest decisions’.
Jemimah Rodrigues’ exclusion from Sunday’s World Cup match against England was “one of the toughest decisions” the squad has had to make, according to India head coach Amol Muzumdar, and it was determined solely by circumstances and combination.
“To be fair, Jemi [Rodrigues] has been a very important player, an integral part of this side we have built,” Muzumdar said. “Sometimes you just have to take those tough calls. That game, particularly against England, required the sixth bowling option, given the ground of Indore and the [high-scoring] conditions over there, we thought six bowling options would be a better call on that particular day and for that particular match.”
Over the weekend, seamer Renuka Singh replaced Rodrigues, who has only amassed 65 runs from four innings this tournament, including two ducks.
“It was a tough call, there is no doubt about it,” Muzumdar said. “One of the toughest decisions, but sometimes tough calls do need to be taken. She took it really nicely and very sportingly.”
After starting in promising situations, India has already lost three straight games—to South Africa, Australia, and England. Although Muzumdar acknowledged that the strain of playing in a home World Cup is being felt, he still had faith in the team to recover, especially young pacer Kranti Gaud, who has scored runs in her second period in all three games.
“I think a home World Cup, of course, there has to be some kind of pressure. But this side, this particular side is well-equipped to handle that. We’ve built a side around it and I think all the players are well-equipped to handle pressure.
“[Gaud] had not much of experience in international cricket, but that’s the stage we are in. She’s been the spearhead of the fast bowlers in the team. And we’ve had several discussions, we’ve not left any stone unturned with regards to discussion and taking the load off her.”
According to Muzumdar, the squad is aggressively working to resolve the fact that none of the Indian batters have achieved three figures, despite the fact that six have already reached fifty in the tournament. With a 125-run partnership, Smriti Mandhana and Harmanpreet Kaur had set the stage for the England match, but they were removed for 88 and 70 runs, respectively.
“We are well aware that a three-figure mark hasn’t come this World Cup. But if you look at the past year-and-a-half, the 18 months that have passed before the World Cup, we’ve had definitely a lot of hundreds that we’ve seen than ever before. I don’t think there is a lot of load on anyone. But we’ve had honest discussions about it. And the players also have been honest that, ‘Yes, instead of a fifty, we could have converted that into a hundred’. They are aware of it. And I’m hopeful that it will come in the next couple of games.”