3 takeaways from India's loss vs England in Women's T20 World Cup 2023

India suffered their first defeat at the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2023 on Saturday, February 18, going down to England by 11 runs in their Group 2 clash in Gqeberha.

After opting to field first, the Women in Blue started off in style as Renuka Singh Thakur picked up three wickets in the powerplay. But England bounced back to post a competitive total of 151/7 on a track that wasn't the easiest to bat on.

Yet, India did not get a decisive flow of momentum into their innings as they stuttered and stumbled along. While Richa Ghosh landed a few lusty blows towards the end, the equation was far too much for her to salvage on her own.

A victory in their last game against Ireland should all but see India through to the semi-finals of the Women's T20 World Cup. But after their defeat to England, they will have a few areas to address.

Here's a look at three key takeaways from their loss to England on Saturday:

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#1 Renuka Singh Thakur is here to stay

It was poetic that when Jhulan Goswami called it quits from international cricket in 2022, India had Renuka Singh Thakur bursting onto the scene. She won the ICC Emerging Player of the Year award in 2022 and has been in sublime form this year as well.

Her incredible ability to swing the new ball saw her dismantle the England top order in the powerplay in their Women's T20 World Cup clash on Saturday. She then returned to pick up two wickets in the final over to bag her maiden international five-wicket haul.

There is no denying that the 27-year-old fast-bowler from Himachal Pradesh is here to stay and if India are to win the T20 World Cup, she is bound to play a massive role.

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#2 India lose their way in the middle overs

The lack of sufficient strike rotation and minimizing dot deliveries has plagued the Indian team for a while now. That Achilles heel came to the fore against England as well, with the batters failing to stay on par with the asking rate and allowing it to escalate to massive proportions.

The troika of Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, and Harmanpreet Kaur combined to score 25 off 33 deliveries. Even a well-set Smriti Mandhana, who was on 23 off 16 at one stage, managed just 11 runs off the next 16 deliveries she faced and Richa Ghosh also took her time to get going.

On most days, Ghosh is left with too much on her plate to do in the death overs. From overs seven to 15, India crawled along and mustered a mere 53 runs - a run rate of 5.89 per over in that phase. Clearly, this is an issue the Women in Blue must address going forward.

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#3 Harmanpreet Kaur endures another tough day

A worrying takeaway for India from their three games so far at the Women's T20 World Cup has been skipper Harmanpreet's form. While she managed a knock of 33 against the West Indies, it took her 42 deliveries through the course of a very rusty stay in the middle.

She walked out against England with her team feeling the pressure and it only surmounted after her departure. Harmanpreet's batting aside, her decision-making on the field has also raised scrutiny, vindicated by the puzzling move to toss the ball to Shafali Verma for an over against a set Natalie Sciver-Brunt and Heather Knight.

Clearly, there are questions lingering over Harmanpreet's batting and captaincy at this point. Her team will hope that she turns up clutch like she has done so often over time as the Women's T20 World Cup reaches its business end.

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Can India bounce back from their defeat to England at the Women's T20 World Cup? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!

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