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India women's team head coach Amol Muzumdar said the side needs to rethink its approach in the shortest format as it looks to recover from the disappointment of failing to qualify for the knockout stage of the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2026 edition.
India suffered a heartbreaking six-wicket loss to Australia at Lord's with Ellyse Perry and Ashleigh Gardner hammering match-winning half-centuries during the 171-run chase. After losing the one-sided contest by six wickets, the Harmanpreet Kaur-led Women in Blue were eliminated from the marquee tournament. Acknowledging the tactical demands of T20 cricket, Muzumdar said India will need to make adjustments to their strategy if they are to keep pace with leading teams in the format, such as Australia. "I think we really have to rethink our strategy for our T20 game," the India coach said after the loss to Australia, as quoted by ICC. "We really need to put our heads around what combinations we are going to play." Muzumdar suggested experienced skipper Harmanpreet Kaur should continue as captain of the side, but indicated that the decision was entirely up to selectors. Pressed further on the exact changes that India required in T20 cricket, Muzumdar highlighted the side's bowling and fielding as areas that needed prompt improvement. "With the bat, I think we have been batting with a lot of intent," he said, as quoted by ICC. "We have been positive in our thinking. We have been thinking about fours and sixes. As modern-day cricket is all about, I guess T20 cricket is all about fours and sixes. And so we have been thinking and we have been playing in that fashion for sure. "It's just that I think our bowling also needs to up the ante a little bit. I don't think our bowling or our fielding helped the cause, to be very honest. So I guess we need to really go back and think about how we're going to approach the T20 game and also be in that positive frame of mind," the India women's coach added. Muzumdar noted that India's bowling unit is still relatively young, with top-ranked T20I bowler Sree Charani and pacer Kranti Gaud both under the age of 23. He also highlighted the setback caused by the absence of spinner Shreyanka Patil, who missed the crucial match against Australia after sustaining an ankle injury earlier in the tournament. "If you look at our bowling attack, it's been very inexperienced as far as international cricket is concerned," he noted. "So I've said this before in the previous press conference that give us 18 months and this attack will be a different one," Muzumdar added. (ANI)
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