India batter Jemimah Rodrigues said on Thursday that the team was focussing on improving its fielding, dubbing the department as a “game-changer”, ahead of the three-match Women’s T20I series against South Africa.
“We have clarity in our plans across the three departments. The work is ongoing in fielding to keep getting better because it is one department that is a game-changer,” she said during the pre-match press conference ahead of the opening T20I against the Proteas in Chennai on Friday.
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The 23-year-old’s fielding effort during the one-off Test against South Africa here was lauded when she took a diving catch in the second innings to get rid of Delmi Tucker.
She praised head coach Amol Muzumdar’s no-nonsense approach towards fitness and fielding.
“Since Amol sir has come, we have been hearing the same thing in every team meeting — fitness and fielding are non-negotiable. And, it is something we have specifically been working on,” she said.
“During the camp (at NCA), there were fitness sessions at 7am and then there were fielding sessions in the evening.
“In fielding, the Indian women’s cricket team is setting high standards. We will continue to do everything to maintain it. We will work hard and the results will come.”
The three-match T20I series will be India’s final preparation before the Asia Cup (T20) and the T20 World Cup.
Jemimah also said the experience gained during the Women’s Premier League will come in handy during the World Cup.
“The best part about our team is that it has been a consistent team for a very long time, having played a lot of matches together. Also, having the WPL experience is a plus,” she added.
“The first WPL (in 2023) had quite a few inexperienced girls, but coming into this year’s WPL, playing on the low and turning pitches of Delhi, similar to Bangladesh, the girls will be taking in a lot of confidence heading into the World Cup.”
The Women’s T20 World Cup is scheduled to be hosted in Bangladesh from October 3 to 20 October.
The wicket of Chepauk will be interesting to look out for, given how a belter was presented for the Test that saw both teams scoring over 600 runs.
Jemimah said India will have a clear plan for the T20I series here where they thrashed South Africa by 10 wickets to win the one-off Test recently after scoring 600-plus runs in the first innings
“Who said Chennai is not high scoring? We got to score 500 runs in the opening day of the Test, which speaks a lot about the wicket here. We will assess the conditions and then go about it. Looking at the pitch today, it felt like a perfect wicket to bat on. However, we will never know till the ball is bowled,” she said.
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