Deepti will bounce back: coach Muzumdar
Indian women’s team head coach Amol Muzumdar has backed veteran all-rounder Deepti Sharma to come good but admitted that her prolonged lean patch in national colours is a bit of a “concern”.
Indian team under Harmanpreet Kaur has already lost the five-match WT20I series against South Africa after losing three games on the trot, but what has been a concern is Deepti’s poor returns with the ball as she has remained wicketless so far.
In the third WT20I match, where Proteas Women chased down 192 with just a wicket down, Laura Wolvaardt and Sune Luus took Deepti to the cleaners, taking 46 runs from her 3.3 overs.
In fact, Deepti’s contribution for India in the last 10 games (across 3 formats) is a meagre 51 runs, and she took only seven wickets in these games.
“Look, I don’t want to beat around the bush, I just want to say that yeah, it’s a bit of a concern as far as Deepti is concerned,” Muzumdar said ahead of the fourth game of the series on Saturday.
But at the same time, Muzumdar is confident that Deepti has the talent and skill to make a superb comeback.
“For all champion players are, form is, you know, temporary, class is permanent, it’s a cliche, but it applies to all the players, and she’s a class player, there’s no doubt about it, we have seen it in the World Cup, in bigger tournaments, in pressure situations, she has stood up for India,” Muzumdar came to her defence.
“I think it’s just a matter of time when she hits a form, and I and the entire country would be hoping it starts from tomorrow. She’s been a marquee player for a long time, and she has shouldered that responsibility in the middle-order, I mean, she’s one of the pillars of Indian women’s cricket at the moment,” he added.
With not much time left for the T20 World Cup, which will be held in England in June, Muzumdar wants the bowling unit to give a far better account of themselves, especially during Powerplay overs, as the returns have been minimal in this series.
“If you look at the series from the Indian perspective, I think our main concern would be wickets in the Powerplay. We have had a really good chat about it.
“That’s one of the concerns of this tour that has propped up, but I’m sure we are, the bowlers and everyone are capable enough to come up with goods, you know, in the future games,” said the head coach.
