Suddenly after one loss against South Africa, in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026, the Indian team seems to be having a few problems at hand. To progress to the semis, they must beat Bangladesh on June 25, and then Australia on June 28. But then, this is easier said than done. Harmanpreet Kaur‘s team is perhaps making the same mistakes repeatedly, which are hurting the team’s chances.
Shuffle the batting order for remaining matches
For example, just to have a right-left batting combination going, they have roped in Yastika Bhatia at no. 3, which is not letting Jemimah Roridgues get enough deliveries in the middle. That means reduced deliveries for Harmanpreet and Richa Ghosh as well. If former India fielding coach Biju George is believed, Team India must make three tactical changes to turn the results for them. In an exclusive interview with InsideSport, he revealed those.
“I’d go with the same XI; just get Radha in place of Prema Rawat. Get Arundhati Reddy to bowl in the middle overs, and have Jemimah Rodrigues bat at no. 3,” George put it rather simply, who has long years of experience with IPL franchises in different capacities. Continuing with this, he clarified, why Jemi needed to be at no. 3.
“I think Jemimah should bat at no. 3. I know people have this theory of left-right combination, but it hasn’t worked. Jemi is very disciplined, she needs pace off the wicket, to get going; takes a bit of time as well. She at one down would have been ideal; and hopefully they will go back to that strategy now.”
Radha in for Prema Rawat, Arundhati to bowl in middle overs
As for Radha, she is one of the more experienced bowlers/all-rounders in the side, having picked up 103 wickets in her T20I career. She is a decent batter lower down the order as well, and had scored a fifty in this year IPL as well. Lastly, Arundhati isn’t your swing bowler, and is the one who bowls tight, so is needed in middle overs, when batters generally look to get set.
Asked if India needed and extra batter in Bharti Fulmali, who can really strike it big, the veteran coach seemed to have some reservations. “If Deepti can go a little bit harder right from the very start of the innings, that would solve India’s some issues, in the latter part of the innings.” And, mind you, it is not like Deepti can’t tonk the ball, but it is just the case of her preferring to play along the carpet, and maybe get a few fours.
Some apparent issues with selection
But then no interaction is complete without discussing, as to what went wrong for the team. The coach in Biju George did not sound too chuffed about some questionable selection calls. He spoke about the injury of Renuka Singh Thakur, and also the inclusion of Prema Rawat, which really sprung a surprise, even to the closest follower of the Indian women’s cricket team.
“Why is Renuka not there? If she is injured, why is she there in the squad? You see, there is an IND A team touring ENG as well. Why can’t you get a player from there,” he asked. To go further, he said, “If Prema Rawat was in your plans ahead of Radha Yadav, then why wasn’t the former playing in the recent England series? Here, let me clarify, you can’t question the team management, not the coach, but the selection policies. If Prema was that important, then she should have ideally played the South Africa series as well,” George concluded his argument.
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