Abhay Sharma admitted that the Indian women’s team needs to be more athletic

Abhay Sharma has stated that the women’s team needs to do a lot of work as far as athleticism and fitness are concerned.

The fielding coach was with the Indian women’s team during the home series against South Africa. Since the series was announced suddenly, he did not get a lot of time with the players. Abhay Sharma is hoping to churn out some positive changes in the team during the England series.

Abhay Sharma admitted that the Indian women’s team needs to undergo an overall development in fielding. The game has changed over the years. The team needs to be more athletic. Technically, work needs to be done to make the players more fit.

Abhay Sharma has previously worked with the men’s U-19 team. He has also observed that a lot of the women players are struggling with their throwing techniques. If one develops a wrong technique in the beginning, then injuries occur more often. He believes that once the technical side is perfected, then the players need to work on their strength.

In the series against South Africa, the difference in fitness between the teams was visible

The South Africa cricket team was flexible and could cover the ground much quicker in the field. There is a huge difference between international teams and the Indian women’s cricket team.

Abhay noted that a lot of the U-19 players are selected to play for the senior team. The workload on the young players is a lot more. They are not that strong. Abhay Sharma added that he would try to interact one on one with the players. It would help him understand their strengths and weaknesses more efficiently.

The series against South Africa was the first match played by the women’s team in a year. The cricketing calendar was hampered due to COVID-19. Abhay Sharma further added apart from batting and bowling, the running between the wickets was also poor. There was a lot of lapse in judgments. He wants to work sincerely on the player's frame of mind. The running between wickets is an important part of the game. The team needs to have good coordination. It helps in converting the singles into two’s which can add pressure on the opposition.

Abhay Sharma is impressed by Shafali Verma’s hard work to improve her fielding. She has even lost a significant amount of weight to be fitter on the field. Now she is working on things like cutting down angels and judging the ball early. She would soon show significant improvement.

The Indian women’s team will an all format match against England at their home in June. Later in the year, the team would tour Australia for a test match at WCA. It would be the women’s team's first pink-ball match. They would also play six limited over matches during the Australia tour.

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