Coach Powar rues lack of fearlessness

Team England celebrate their T20I series win over India at Chelmsford on Wednesday. Pic/Getty Images

Indian Ramesh Powar said an "ideological change" is needed for the side to transform into a "fearless unit" in white-ball games as he reflected on the back-to-back series defeats to England.

The Indian women lost both, the ODIs and WT20I series, that ended on Wednesday, by identical 1-2 margins and coach Powar called for a shift in mindset or some fresh middle-order batters.

Save skipper Mithali Raj, whose strike-rate is also not the most impressive, others like Harmanpreet Kaur, Deepti Sharma, Taniya Bhatia, and Punam Raut have struggled.
"Mithali is batting well but we need support from at least one more batter to put pressure on opponents in middle order after Powerplays," Powar said at the end of the series.

Ramesh Powar

However, he feels that an ideological shift needs time and can't happen overnight. "We have to be fearless. I can't force them in first series. They have been playing with some ideology and we can't make drastic changes. We have to assess what suits them," the former India off-spinner said.

"To get them out of it [current slow batting in middle overs] we have to convince them and to do that, it takes a lot of communication. Fearless is how modern cricket will be played."

Powar seemed willing to read the riot act. "There are two ways. Either mould them [current lot] or draft in other middle-order players to up the ante. As simple as that. We also need to enhance the fast bowling department. We are only looking at Jhulan to perform. There has to be some support for her," he said.

Earlier, England opener Danni Wyatt smashed an unbeaten 56-ball 89 to overshadow an elegant 70 by Smriti Mandhana as the hosts claimed an easy eight-wicket win over India in the third T20I here.

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