Women’s T20 WC: India’s bowling attack will get better with experience, says Muzumdar

Following a six-wicket T20 World Cup loss to South Africa at Old Trafford, India head coach Amol Muzumdar defended his inexperienced bowling lineup and middle-order collapse, urging patience while emphasizing the team’s commitment to a fearless brand of cricket

Manchester:After suffering a six-wicket defeat to South Africa in a crucial 2026 Women’s T20 World Cup clash, India head coach Amol Muzumdar said the team’s bowling unit is still in a developing phase and will grow stronger with more exposure and experience in the coming years.

In a crunch game at Old Trafford, India suffered from slip-ups in all three departments as they failed to defend 159 against South Africa. With the ball, barring Sree Charani’s three-for and Shafali Verma’s spell, none of the bowlers looked penetrative enough to dislodge a rock-solid Marizanne Kapp, who hit 81 not out off 45 balls.

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“You have to take into consideration that the entire bowling attack apart from Deepti is very (inexperienced). Give them some time in international cricket. Somebody like Charani, very new to international cricket. Prema Rawat (was) playing her first game.

“Even when Shreyanka was there, she is very new to international cricket. (So is) Kranti Gaud, and so is Nandni Sharma. Apart from Deepti, we do have a lot of inexperience in the bowling lineup. Give them some time, give them 24 months, and I’m sure they’ll come up (better),” said Muzumdar at the conclusion of the game.

India were also hurt by Marizanne given reprieves twice on 25 and 65 by substitute fielder Radha Yadav, considered as one of the best fielders in the current set-up. “Radha has been an exceptional fielder, I think a world-class fielder, and those two catches were (there for taking)… but things happen on a cricket field.

“Sometimes things go right, sometimes, things go wrong. Unfortunately, Radha was on the other side this time, but I’m sure, she’s a strong character, and I’m sure somewhere in this tournament she’ll make up for it,” added Muzumdar.

A recurring pattern with India has been the middle-order losing wickets in a heap and similar scene happened against South Africa, when Harmanpreet Kaur, Jemimah Rodrigues and Yastika Bhatia fell quickly. With Richa Ghosh kept quiet, India never got the finishing kick it desired and finished two runs short of 160.

“Jemi is a clutch player for us. We know for a fact that if she comes good, she’ll win us a game. The scores haven’t reflected the talent that she has, but I’m sure, in the coming days, she’ll come along. There will be stages in T20 cricket where you will have – because of the high-risk factor – a lot of wickets falling.

“And we have been playing a brand of cricket, a fearless brand of cricket, which we have emphasised on. So I guess there will be some days where we will have those wickets falling in a cluster. But I guess that’s the way the nature of the game is. It’s not much of a concern,” added Muzumdar.

With India’s semi-final hopes taking a bit of a hit, they now need to correct their flaws when they take on Bangladesh and the mighty Australia later this week at Old Trafford and Lord’s respectively. “We knew it as soon as the schedule came out that this was going to be the crunch game. You need to give credit where it deserves.

“Of course, it was a big game, there’s no doubt about it. But we still have two more games to look forward to. And, there is no doubt in my mind that if we play to our potential, we can be on the right side of those two games,” concluded Muzumdar.