NEW DELHI: Ace off-spinner
Deepti Sharma
expressed confidence on Monday, asserting that the
Indian women's team
is determined to break
Australia
's winning streak against them at home "as soon as possible."
The team has faced nine consecutive ODI losses to Australia, including two defeats in the ongoing series.
Australia secured a narrow three-run victory in the second ODI at the
Wankhede Stadium
on Saturday, securing an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.
Deepti conveyed the team's eagerness to reverse this trend and end Australia's dominance. The last time India emerged victorious against the Australians at home was on February 23, 2007, in Chennai.
“Look, winning and losing is a part of the game — but we have improved as a team — be it as a bowling unit or batting. We will try to break their winning streak as soon as possible,” Deepti told the media in Mumbai before India's training session.
“There have been a lot of improvements. Earlier, whenever we would play against Australia the games never used to go that close. This is one positive (from the last match) that we are able to take it till the end,” she added.
Deepti said the team will look to focus on the positives drawn from the second game across departments.
“We did well as a bowling unit, the spinners and the pacers to have restricted them. At the same time the batters did well, their partnerships in between were good,” she said.
Deepti praised the spirited performances of debutant
Shreyanka Patil
, who claimed 1/43 in her first ODI, and
Richa Ghosh
, who played a remarkable innings scoring 96 off 117 balls, in the second ODI.
“It is not easy to perform so well in your first match which Shreyanka did. Richa played fearless cricket which was enjoyable to watch,” she said.
Deepti, who played a pivotal role in leading India's bowling attack with an impressive five-wicket haul of five for 38, her second fifer in her career, credited her excellent performance to extended bowling sessions at the nets.
“(If) I have to speak about my bowling, I have trained a lot. I have increased my bowling sessions and have also bowled in different phases such as with the new ball, or in the middle overs, or even how to bowl with the old ball in the death overs,” she said.
The senior player admitted she would look to improve her strike-rate. “Every team plays to win but some days you are able to pull it off and some days you are not,” Deepti said.
“We gave it a good fight, took it till the end of the game and now I am focusing on tomorrow's match,” she added.
(With PTI inputs)
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