A lot riding on Pooja, Deepti and Shreyanka, says Reema Malhotra ahead of Ind-Aus T20Is

Navi Mumbai, Jan 4 (IANS) Former India cricketer Reema Malhotra believes a lot will be riding on Pooja Vastrakar, Deepti Sharma and Shreyanka Patil ahead of the three-match T20I series against Australia starting on January 5 at the DY Patil Stadium.

India's last T20I assignment saw them lose to England 2-1 at the Wankhede Stadium last month. Though they won back-to-back Tests against England and Australia, India had to suffer a 3-0 defeat in the ODI series against the Alyssa Healy-led side.

In the white-ball matches so far, Pooja, Deepti and Shreyanka have been amongst the wickets for India. “It is a T20I, so the batters need to perform but the bowlers are just as important for India. Shreyanka Patil proved herself in the two matches against England. I don’t think you can keep Deepti Sharma out of the picture, she has been writing her own story and this time she has etched it in gold – she’s in terrific form.”

"Another name I would like to add is Pooja Vastrakar 2.0, the way she performed in the series was brilliant. Her role in this T20I season will be very important to the team. Also, these three players can equally contribute with the bat as well. So, a lot is riding on these three to perform in the bowling department,” said Reema on JioCinema’s daily show ‘#AAKASHVANI’.

One of the most glaring aspect of India’s play has been the fielding, which was witnessed in the ODI series defeat when they dropped a lot of catches and had plenty of misfields. Reema felt the mistakes in fielding shouldn’t be repeated, and expects them to make improvements in this department in the T20I series.

"If you want to beat Australia, then you need to beat them in all three departments. There was a slight problem with India in batting and bowling, but I believe that can still be recovered because India has been playing well and just need to give that final push to win.

“But I think the main problem is fielding, in terms of fitness, I think this team has significantly improved. We saw them drop a lot of catches in a single game and mistakes like these cannot be repeated. So, I think they just need to believe in themselves, and they will improve," she said.