Windies Women look to rebound

West Indies Women and India Women start their One-Day International series tomorrow at North Sound in Antigua with the hosts hoping to break out of a recent slump in form.

West Indies have a few problems to sort out. The 2013 50-over World Cup finalists haven’t won a bilateral ODI series since defeating Sri Lanka in 2017-18. To make matters worse, the Caribbean side have lost all their last seven ODIs.

In an attempt to restructure the set-up, Gus Logie, the former West Indies batsman, took over as the interim head coach from the former Barbados and Western Transvaal all-rounder, Hendy Springer. West Indies are also placed a lowly seventh in the ICC Championship table with just 11 points, and they have a lot of catching up to do.

Shemaine Campbelle, the all-rounder and occasional wicket-keeper, and Chedean Newton, middle order batter and occasional wicket-keeper, have been recalled. However, Hayley Matthews, the all-rounder, who is serving an eight-match ban due to disciplinary reasons, will miss the first two ODIs. In her absence, Stafanie Taylor will have to carry the responsibility of the batting unit on her capable shoulders.

Deandra Dottin, the veteran all-rounder, is also missing from action due to a troublesome shoulder problem. Afy Fletcher, the leg-spinner, will be relied upon to make inroads into the Indian line-up. The home side will be a bit concerned about the form of Anisa Mohammed. The off-spinner hasn’t taken a wicket in internationals since picking up a two-for versus Pakistan in a T20I in January this year.

West Indies have also included a couple of new faces – Aaliyah Alleyne and Shawnisha Hector – both of whom are medium-pacers. However, the duo is set to sit out the opening game. Britney Cooper and Kyshona Knight are expected to open the batting with Taylor and Stacy-Ann King most likely following the opening pair. King, the all-rounder, who made her ODI debut way back in 2008, averages just under 15 in ODIs, which once again demonstrates the point that Taylor has to shore up the batting unit.

Back in January 1978, the Diana Edulji-led India Women played their inaugural ODI against the formidable England side in the World Cup in Kolkata. Since then, the Asian giants have taken part in numerous World events and also bilateral series.

However, it is interesting to note that India Women have played just one bilateral ODI series in the Caribbean and that was held in 2011-12, with the Merissa Aguilleira-led West Indies side edging out the Indian team captained by Anjum Chopra through a 2-1 margin.

A little more than seven years after their full-fledged tour of the Caribbean, the Mithali Raj-led Indian side will again embark on a trip to the West Indies and this time around, hope to return home triumphant. Incidentally, only four Indian players who played in that series – Raj, Jhulan Goswami, Harmanpreet Kaur and Ekta Bisht – are still part of the ODI set-up. So, the touring side would have to fall back on the World T20 held in West Indies last year to gauge the conditions and acclimatise accordingly ahead of the first ODI versus the hosts in Antigua tomorrow.

However, with the tracks in West Indies expected to be on the slower side, the Indian camp would feel confident of putting up a fine show. The likes of Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Poonam Yadav, Bisht, Deepti Sharma and company would be hoping to play a major role. The spin twins, Yadav and Bisht, were also in fine form in the 50-over rubber against South Africa at home, taking four and seven wickets respectively.

Just to emphasise the point of spinners performing well in the Caribbean, Australia’s trio of Georgia Wareham, Jess Jonassen and Ashleigh Gardner were among the wickets in the recently-concluded ODI series in West Indies.

Such wickets also bring into play seamers, with cutters and taking pace off the ball turning out to be the main weapons. So, Goswami, Shikha Pandey and Mansi Joshi would have to play supporting roles. On the batting front, Raj will aim for another good show. The veteran hasn’t averaged below 35 in an ODI rubber since the series versus Australia in 2017-18. India also would be boosted by the return of the number two ranked ODI batter, Smriti Mandhana. The elegant southpaw missed the ODIs versus South Africa due to a toe injury. The likes of Kaur, Punam Raut, Jemimah Rodrigues and Priya Punia also performed credibly in the 50-over series versus South Africa.

Squad:West Indies: Stafanie Taylor (c.), Anisa Mohammed, Aaliyah Alleyne, Afy Fletcher, Britney Cooper, Chedean Nation, Chinelle Henry, Stacy-Ann King, Kyshona Knight, Natasha McLean, Shabika Gajnabi, Shawnisha Hector, Shemaine Campbelle, Sheneta Grimmond

India: Mithali Raj (c), Harmanpreet Kaur (vice-capt), Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Punam Raut, D Hemalatha, Jhulan Goswami, Shikha Pandey, Mansi Joshi, Poonam Yadav, Ekta Bisht, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Taniya Bhatia (wk), Priya Punia, Sushma Verma (wk).