Left-arm spin focus as India gear up for Pakistan challenge
Team India had their first practice session in Birmingham today ahead of their ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 opener against arch-rivals Pakistan on June 14 at Edgbaston.
At the King Edward’s School Ground (Eastern Road Sports Ground and Pavilion), the entire squad turned up for a lengthy three-hour session. Proceedings began with the usual warm-up drills before the players moved into the nets one by one.
Interestingly, three separate nets were set up. In Net Two, openers Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma were seen batting together while facing Deepti Sharma, Kranti Gaud and two net bowlers — one seamer and one left-arm spinner.
The seamer and Kranti bowled from both sides of the wicket, particularly at Shafali, testing the opener with bouncers. Overall, Shafali looked solid, but Smriti managed only a handful of well-timed shots. Apart from those, she appeared to struggle with her timing. The mistimed shots clearly left her frustrated, and she later had an extended session behind the nets with a thrower — first facing throwdowns with deuce balls before switching to tennis balls.
Meanwhile, in Net Three, Jemimah Rodrigues and Yastika Bhatia were seen batting and appeared in control, complementing each other well. In that net, Renuka Singh Thakur and Shreyanka Patil were bowling alongside a thrower and two net bowlers — a left-arm spinner and a pacer.
Among the bowlers, Shreyanka looked to be in the best rhythm. Kranti was tidy, while Renuka seemed to be struggling slightly to hit full throttle.
Richa Ghosh was seen having a chat with fielding coach Munish Bali before spending a long period working on her catching. Several players, especially N Sree Charani, also spent considerable time on catching drills.
Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur had a fielding session before moving to batting. In between, she and Richa were seen playfully rolling their arms to Bharti Fulmali, who was mostly batting in Net One.
During the latter part of the session, Charani, Radha Yadav and Arundhati Reddy were seen bowling. Richa batted in a separate net alongside a thrower, while Nandni Sharma and Renuka also chipped in with brief batting stints.
Nandni also looked good with the ball, while Radha and Arundhati had lengthy batting sessions before the curtains came down on practice. Yastika even returned for a short knocking session, practising shots in the straight V, which could prove pivotal.
Overall, it appeared that the team had prioritised practice against left-arm spin, considering the quality options they are likely to face during the tournament. Even during their triumphant 2025 ODI World Cup campaign, the Women in Blue showed some vulnerability against left-arm spinners, and that trend has continued in subsequent series. As they prepare for the Pakistan clash, the team seem to be fine-tuning a few key areas.
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