W.V. Raman, the coach of India’s women’s team, is known to pay close attention to detail and makes it a point to recognise his players' strengths and weaknesses well.
On the same lines, spinner Ekta Bisht and pacer Shikha Pandey had also earlier acknowledged that Raman’s inputs have helped them better their game.
On Wednesday, India's senior pacer, Jhulan Goswami, too suggested that the team has immensely benefitted under Raman’s guidance.
“He is such a great personality and he has lots of ideas and understands the game very well. And (suggests) whatever small adjustments (are required),” Jhulan said, on the eve of the team’s final ODI against England.
“As a cricketer whenever you play a competitive sport, you have to do a little bit of adjustment here and there, so whatever he is telling us, (is) working for us at the moment,” Jhulan said.
Jhulan also indicated that the coach is also working on the mental aspects of the game. "Most of the times, I discuss with him about the mental aspects (in the game), because he is watching from outside with a wider angle and we are inside (the ground). So I just discuss a lot (about) mental aspects, mental process, how can I prepare, how can I become better and which area I can improve more, so all these discuss and so far it is working well for us,” Jhulan said.
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Raman has also encouraged Jhulan to focus more on her batting. The result was out in the open as she played a knock of 30 in the first ODI. “The credit goes to Raman sir. He is the one who has been telling me to work on batting. He said, ‘those runs are important, and if you are not serious about your batting, it will be difficult.’ He believed in my batting skills and I am just lucky enough to do that in that way.”
In the previous outing, Jhulan and Shikha scalped four wickets each, which helped India beat England by seven wickets. And the pace ace admitted that her chemistry with Shikha helped. “I know Shikha for a long time and she is in our team since almost 3-4 years. We are working together and she is a very hard-working girl. She is doing well at this moment and she should continue with that. I just share some experience with her, that’s all,” she said.
Even though the series is sealed, India still needs two points from the final T20 to go a step closer to the direct qualification for the 2021 World Cup.
“When you are representing your country, that’s the most important thing. We are just looking forward (to) each and every matches and we want to do well, because as a team we believe that we need to go through 2021 World Cup straight away and not playing qualifying round,” she said.
“So for us, the main thing is that we have to play positive cricket and whatever is not in our control, we will not focus on that, we just focus on whatever is in our control, that’s all.”
If India is eyeing two points, things are no different for England either. The team captain, Heather Knight, admitted that Thursday’s game is extremely crucial for her side.
“It’s an important game. Championship points are on the line. First of all it’s about clearing your mind. Forget what has gone and try to learn as much as possible and try to move forward. It’s been a tough tour for us so far but still a hell lot to play for and it is still a long way to go,” Knight said.
“It’s little bit about character now, how we respond to what’s gone and how we fight and give better performances than what we have done so far,” she added.
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