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Indian Women's team skipper Mithali Raj has urged her team to be “more consistent” in the upcoming Women's ODI World Cup. The Indian team is due to travel to New Zealand for a five-match ODI series before the action gets underway in the blockbuster tournament on March 4. Mithali's team ended runners-up in the last edition as hosts England outclassed India. This time though, the Indian team wants to be more than ready to earn the bragging rights in a competition only won by Australia and England.
"We will definitely be looking to fix our combinations for the World Cup (in ODIs against New Zealand) and try out a few compositions and also get a little more consistent in the things that worked for us in the last year," Mithali was quoted in a promotional program.
She was full of praise for the middle-order and said there is enough firepower in the ranks to come out in top. According to Mithali, the likes of Richa Ghosh and all-rounder Pooja Vastrakar can provide enough depth in the lineup to frustrate the opposition.
"The lower middle order contributed in Australia and we would want it to be a little more consistent. And it definitely showed that they have the potential to contribute and all-rounders like Pooja and Sneh Rana have done well in England and Australia.
"Richa definitely showed that she has the strength and the calibre to sort of go big in those last few overs that we actually wanted someone like that.
"She gives us an edge in batting while Taniya (Bhatia) has better glove work - it's good to have good competition for spots and we have a 5 match series to try out the combinations,” the skipper added on India’s firepower middle-order.
India will be hoping for a better result in the competition this time around as they try to go one better this time. The Indian Women's team has been runners-up twice in the tournament, 2005 and 2017, the later final in which India had total command was lost in the dying moments after a catastrophic collapse.
The 39-year-old Indian captain will be poised to end her career on a high as she is now in the twilight of an illustrious journey with Team India. She was the second-highest scorer in the 2017 edition with 409 runs, only missing out on the top spot by one solitary run to England's Tammy Beaumont. The tournament could be a fitting finale for her if she can add the feather to the cap by going all the way. She could be next seen in action on India's tour of New Zealand, starting February 11.
