"They're still searching for..." - Mithali Raj exposes Smriti Mandhana-starrer India women's team's biggest weakness

Former Indian women's team skipper Mithali Raj has shared her suggestions for the Indian team after their defeat to Sri Lanka in the Women's Asia Cup 2024 final.

The bowlers could not defend the 166 required to win against Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka chased down the score with an over to spare with their skipper Chamari Athapaththu scoring 61 off 43 balls to set up the game for them. Harshitha Samarawickrama (63* off 51 balls) and Kavisha Dilhari ( 30* off 16) added an unbeaten 73-run stand to take Sri Lanka to their first Women's Asia Cup title win.

The Indian bowlers consisting of some big names like Renuka Singh and Deepti Sharma could not pose any threat to Chamari and her team. After the early break through the Sri Lankan skipper took matters into her own hands and set the perfect platform with an attacking half-century. They chased down the target with eight balls to spare.

For India and Harmanpreet Kaur, it was their second defeat in an Asia Cup final. They were previously beaten by Bangladesh in the 2018 Asia Cup final. Harmanpreet Kaur had an unbeaten run in this edition of the tournament but her team lost in the final.

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Reviewing India's overall performance and their performance in the final, Mithali Raj said that number three remains a concern for the batting order and they need to sort the issue out ahead of the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh in October later this year. Speaking to Star Sports, Mithali said that the team should be ready to make some changes before the next big ICC event.

India Should Focus On Improving Number 3 Batting Position: Mithali Raj

"Come October, India is going to participate in the biggest tournament, the T20 Women's World Cup. The area I think India should really focus on improving is the number 3 batter position. They are still searching for the right batter to go at number 3. They have tried Hemlata and they have tried Chetry," said Mithali.

Harmanpreet Kaur bats at number four in the batting lineup and Raj said that the number three batters should be someone who can build on the good start given by their openers Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Varma. Indian openers dominated throughout the campaign barring the final and the middle-order just could not withstand the pressure.

"Ideally, they should have someone who can really go big after the sort of opening partnership that Shafali and Smriti would provide. Also, the bowling aspect needs attention because right now they are going with only 5 bowlers. They probably require a 6th bowler, someone like an all-rounder who can bowl a few overs as well as bat. I think these are the areas India should look to tweak before getting into the World Cup," Mithali added further.

She concluded her interaction with a message for the Indian team as to how they can build towards the T20 World Cup after the Asia Cup final loss. She urged the players to play good and hard cricket and be competitive.

"My message to the Indian team would be to play good cricket, play hard cricket, and compete. I believe you all have a great chance because it's in Bangladesh, a location with conditions that suit us. Our strengths have always been the spinners, and this time around our batting is also doing really well. So, good luck to you all," she concluded.

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