NEWS
Follow UsIt was a historic homecoming for the Indian Women’s team as they toppled England by a huge margin of 347 runs at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai, aided by a maverick performance by spinners. But the likes of Renuka Singh Thakur and Pooja Vastrakar had a certain calming role to play in the process, with upfront wickets that broke England’s back early in the innings.
Coming back from a stress injury, which kept her away from international cricket since WPL 2023, Renuka managed to make England opener Sophia Dunkley her bunny. Not only did she dismiss her three times in T20Is, but also scalped his wicket in the Test match as well. India’s bowling coach, Troy Cooley, is very impressed with the way Thakur has gone about her business, adding that Thakur is using all her toolboxes in a very strategic way.
"Renuka is definitely improving every time I see her. She is coming from a couple of injuries and she has worked extremely hard to not only develop fitness but also to develop her skills. You are starting to see the rewards now for all that hard work. Not only does she swing the ball back in naturally. She has now got the ball that straightens and leaves the right-handers,” Cooley said ahead of India’s one-off Test against Australia in Mumbai.
"It is great to see her using the angles," Cooley said. "I really like the way she is putting together the sequence of deliveries and the number of deliveries she has got in option. Her toolbox is quite big now and she is definitely using those tools in a strategic and tactical way."
After being named a non-traveling reserve for the Asian Games this year, Pooja Vastrakar was suddenly called up to the squad after Anjali Sarvani picked up an injury. Vastrakar shone for India in the final to help India win a Gold, but now back for the Test, she made inroads with a solid tag-team effort with Renuka Singh Thakur. Cooley is all praise for the pacer.
"She had a little bit of a sore knee and she came back through that nicely," Cooley said. "Through rehab she dedicated herself to improve her run-up and get the most out of it. She has done a marvellous job there. Now she is more balanced at the crease.
"You can see the natural tendency now to get into the stumps and challenge those batters. She has got her run-up sorted which is great from a bowling coach’s perspective here. She has got enough pace and variations to be a good red-ball bowler."
"I know behind the scenes what work they are putting in and the growth has been in line with the work they have done," he said. "The biggest improvement is they have added some skills and variations. Not only that but the control and when to use them, that's come into it quite nicely.
"The strategy behind what ball they are going to use - whether to attack or defend - we talk about talking to the ball now and they are getting some good answers back. They are improving very well, there is still more room to go, but they are up for it, and they have got the work ethic to be able to do that.”
The India Women and Australia Women will take on each other in the one-off Test at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai, from December 21, 2023.
