SA-W vs IND-W: India takes learnings despite 1-4 T20I series loss to South Africa, says head coach Muzumdar

Head coach Amol Muzumdar struck a reflective note after the Indian women’s national cricket team slumped to a 1-4 defeat against South Africa women, saying the visitors would return richer in “learnings” despite the disappointing result.

India won the fourth game but ended the series with a 23-run defeat in the fifth and final T20I on Monday.

“I think it’s been a fantastic series, fought really well. It was competitive right from the start and it’s been fantastic to come here in South Africa,” Muzumdar said after the conclusion of the series.

“Obviously, the result hasn’t gone our way. We’ve been a little disappointed with the 4-1 result, but we have got a lot of learnings out of the series.”

The coach identified India’s inability to strike in the PowerPlay and lapses in finishing with the bat as key areas of concern, though he noted visible improvement in the latter half of the rubber.

“Initially, in the PowerPlay, we weren’t able to pick up wickets, that was one concern area for us and also the finish with the bat. But we addressed those things in the last three games,” he said.

He lauded the opposition for coming out as strong rivals.

“Credit to South Africa, and especially to Laura Wolvaardt, the way she batted. She has batted beautifully in this series.”

The opener had scores of 51, 54, 115, 18 and 92 not out in the series.

Muzumdar, however, drew positives from individual performances, highlighting skipper Harmanpreet Kaur’s form and work ethic.

“To start with, Harman’s form has been fantastic, she’s batting well and her work ethics have been spot-on,” he said.

He also praised late contributions from Richa Ghosh and a return to form for Deepti Sharma.

“Richa coming good in the last couple of games is a big positive for us, Deepti coming back in form in the last game.”