Come october

With Jemimah Rodrigues: With India ending the 2024 Women’s Asia Cup with a runners-up finish, former captain and batting mainstay Mithali Raj has called on the side to focus on improvements around the No.3 batting position, an area where it has been found wanting. With Jemimah Rodrigues excelling as a No.5 batter, it means she and Richa Ghosh will handle finishing duties. But it also means that India don’t have a solid batter at the No.3 position following in after Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma.

They did try a strong spin-hitter in Dayalan Hemalatha at number three in T20Is against South Africa and at the Asia Cup, but it didn’t yield great results. Attempts to try Sajeevan Sajana and Uma Chetry also did not work, which means India have a gaping hole at No.3 to solve ahead of the Women’s T20 World Cup in Bangladesh in October.

"Come October, India is going to participate in the biggest tournament, the T20 Women's World Cup. The areas I think India should really focus on improving are the number 3 batter position.”