Pooja Vastrakar: ‘I need to improve on yorkers and slower ones’

The 18-year-old Indian all-rounder admits the need to sharpen her death bowling, as “I go for runs on length balls.”

Pooja Vastrakar (second from left) celebrates a wicket alongside her team-mates during India’s 36-run defeat to Australia on Monday.

India all-rounder Pooja Vastrakar acknowledged the need to improve her death bowling, especially “yorkers and slower ones.”

The 18-year-old, who made her Twenty20 International debut against South Africa at Potchefstroom last month, has grabbed six wickets in seven T20Is.

Speaking ahead of India’s final tri-series match scheduled for Thursday, she said, “In the death overs, I need to improve on my fuller length deliveries, because I go for runs on length balls. So I need to improve on yorkers and slower ones.”

Dead rubber

The upcoming match is a dead rubber as India has already been knocked out of the tournament, having lost all three matches it has played so far. Vastrakar has so far taken two wickets in the tourney, both against Australia on Monday, in what was a comprehensive defeat for the host. However, in the three-over spell, she had given away 28 runs at an economy rate of 9.33.

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Vastrakar added, “In the team meetings, we often speak that we have to attack on stumps. If they (batters) get a mis-hit, then they can get bowled.”

Bowling is, however, a late addition to her skill-set, she clarified. She said, “I used to love batting from the beginning. I was a batter and then I started bowling. Then I was picked up by [Madhya Pradesh] as a bowler, then I got interest in bowling and focussed on it.”