Deepti Sharma: Hope to put up 300+ scores on Baroda’s batting-friendly strips

FILE PHOTO: Deepti Sharma says India will be looking to make the most of the batting-friendly conditions at the Kotambi Stadium. | Photo Credit: Getty Images

The last time the Indian women’s cricket team played ODIs at the Baroda Cricket Association Stadium in Kotambi outside Vadodara was in December 2024, when India blew West Indies away in a 3-0 series triumph. That victory saw the host hoard a number of batting milestones and two 300+ scores. The brief will be no different as it takes on Zimbabwe in a three-match ODI series at the same venue starting Friday.

“From our training, we know it will be a good batting track. We’re thinking 300, if we get to bat first,” newly appointed ODI vice captain Deepti Sharma said ahead of the first fixture.

India, which has been marinating in T20 cricket for most part of the year save a 0-3 ODI drubbing at the hands of Australia earlier, will want to kick off its run in the new ICC Championship cycle with a big win too.

Zimbabwe showed promise with the bat, but prolonging the fight for 50 overs is a challenge skipper Josephine Nkomo recognises.

“We want to be able to convert those 40s to 50s and the 50s maybe even to 100s. The message is to let players play their natural game. We can’t expect someone like Sharne Mayers (who scored a 49-ball 60 and 33-ball 43 in the T20Is in Raipur) to block her way through. Endurance is something we’re working on without changing our natural style,” she explained.