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UP Warriorz head coach Abhishek Nayar took responsibility of the comprehensive loss to Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the Women's Premier League (WPL) clash on January 12. Nayar said that it was a 'wrong decision' to send Harleen Deol to open the innings instead of Kiran Navgire who opened in the campaign opener.
"We felt that with the moving ball at that point, Harleen could add a bit of value in the powerplay," Nayar said after Warriorz’s second consecutive defeat in WPL.
"She's obviously technically correct. It didn't work out today. I felt it turned out to be the wrong decision. I take complete responsibility for it. But I think the thought process behind it was having some solidity up top and then hopefully having that power later on as the pitch gets better, because we anticipated a bit of swing initially. I thought those match-ups for Kiran Navgire in the middle would work. [But they] didn't work today. So I look foolish."
KL Rahul role for Shweta Sehrawat?
While Shweta Sehrawat is a top-order batter, she came to bat at no.6 in the ninth over of the innings. Nayar said that he wants to give her the role which wicketkeeper-batter KL Rahul has in the men’s ODI cricket team. While Sehrawat was dismissed for a golden duck by an in-form Nadine de Klerk, he wants to give her a longer run in the middle order.
"For her career, I think it's a great step moving forward. Giving her the gloves, in my head, was a KL Rahul sort of move, where it brightens her chances of making it to the India squad, especially seeing that there aren't a lot of options. She's a tremendous batter with a lot of capability, power and flair. She has been working on a couple of shots, and we've seen that in practice matches and during her preparation. But it was good to see a sample size of it in a game. I have a lot more expectations from her through the season because I truly believe she has the potential to don the India colours and do exceedingly well," he said.
"In 15 days of practice, she has been keeping to Sophie Ecclestone, Deepti Sharma and Asha [Sobhana]. So with a little more keeping under her belt, I really feel she can be a great prospect for the Indian women's team."
UP Warriorz could not use the powerplay overs well as skipper Meg Lanning and Harleen strugged against the new ball, especially Lauren Bell. After losing five wickets for 50, Deepti Sharma's unbeaten 45 and Deandra Dottin's unbeaten 40 helped them post a respectable total on the board.
Nayar says everyone’s roles are clear
Nayar said that he has given players clarity in their roles. He made changes in the top order based on the opposition’s bowling attack.
"In today's game, you can't talk too much about the batting order because we lost wickets in heaps. In our mind, it was quite simple. Everyone had their roles clear. But when you lose so many wickets, what role? You just have to go out and play," Nayar said.
"For me, in T20 cricket, the numbers after your top three don't really matter. The top three today was a call based on the opposition. Although I believe in having players play set roles, I also felt that today it didn't work out. But that doesn't mean Harleen can't do it, or that Kiran can't do it. It just didn't work out today. If she had scored 100, we'd be having a different conversation."
UP Warriorz's next clash is against Delhi Capitals on January 14. Both the franchises have lost two games each.
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