Muzumdar sees 'scope for improvement' after India drop five catches
The India players celebrate as they close in on the title • Getty Images
"Well, that's a good thing to have, isn't it, as a coach, that there is something for us to work on," Muzumdar said when asked about India's fielding lapses - they dropped five catches in the final against Sri Lanka - and occasionally poor running between the wickets. "I think there are so many aspects of the game that we really focus on in our camps, it's real hard work that we put in.
"[Before the Asia Cup] a lot of emphasis was put on the fielding aspect, the fitness part was looked after really well in the in the camp prior to this tournament, and also the running between wickets. So yeah, we've been working really hard on certain aspects where we think that there is a lot of scope for improvement and we march ahead. We don't get satisfied with any tournament. Once the tournament is over, we look forward for the next one."
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Much of India's success in the tournament - they finished with five straight wins - was down to their opening pair of Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma. Shafali topped the run-scorers' table with 236 runs from five innings, striking at 171.01, and was named the Player of the Tournament, while Mandhana was second on that table with 213 runs.
The next-best batter for India was Harmanpreet Kaur, with 71 runs, scored at a strike rate of 91.02. Pratika Rawal, who was dropped for the final, scored 56 runs from four innings at a strike rate of 98.24.
Muzumdar, however, didn't seem worried.
"We've had some lovely scores given the conditions here. I don't think there was anything [worrying] regarding the middle order. We don't have any concerns regarding that," he said. "We have had some amazing opening partnerships: Shafali and Smriti have been batting really well. And that's the nature of the game, T20 cricket. You cannot have just everyone shooting… and scoring runs. So yeah, there will be moments in in the T20 match, and we are well aware of that."
Rawal, who made her T20I debut at the Asia Cup, didn't come off the way she has in ODI cricket since bursting on to the scene in late 2024, but G Kamalini, who replaced her for the final, showed glimpses of T20 nous. She walked out at No. 7 with seven balls left in the innings, faced five of them, sent one for four and one for six, and ended with an unbeaten 15.
"She just proved how talented she is," Muzumdar said. "She was slotted in to play at No. 3 [a straight swap for Rawal], but as the game unfolded, we had to push her down the order. But she came out really superbly towards the end. The momentum that we got to in the last over just propelled us towards a better first six overs in fielding as well. Her knock really helped, and I'm glad that people are putting their hands up for the places."
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