India's shaky wins raise combination questions ahead of crucial Australia clash

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Are India a bowler short? Why are India losing too many wickets to left-arm spinners? Are India using spin too much in the death overs? How does the team regroup and move on from the loss against South Africa?

The way India allrounder Sneh Rana was grilled with questions at the press conference ahead of the match against Australia, it would create the impression, at least for anyone not watching the Women's World Cup 2025, that India haven't come close to a single win.

Though India won two of their three games and came close to sealing the third, the path to getting to those victories has been far from convincing. India have suffered collapses in all three outings with low scores from their experienced batters Smriti Mandhana, Harmanpreet Kaur and Rodrigues. Their fielding hasn't been up to the mark, and they have mostly had to complete their 50 overs with five bowlers.

After seeing the ease with which boundaries were being scored in the death overs by both India and South Africa in Visakhapatnam, where India next play Australia on Sunday, the hosts would love the comfort of a sixth bowler, especially some added experience in the pace attack that currently features Kranti Gaud and Amanjot Kaur, who have all of 21 ODIs between them. Their options on the bench would tempt them to also bring in either Renuka Singh, who has the 2022 ODI World Cup experience (as a squad member), or Arundhati Reddy, who has 49 internationals under her belt. But such is the balance of this team that a bowler would have to come in at the cost of a batter because replacing an allrounder would again cut down a bowling option.

"I think that call is for the management to take, and I can't comment much on it," Rana said about the make-up of the XI. "But we already have good bowlers, and even Pratika [Rawal] and Harman bowl, so it won't make a big difference at this stage."

Harmanpreet and Rawal have been rolling their arms over in the nets but it remains to be seen how many overs they can manage in batting-friendly conditions, that too against a top side like Australia. Harmanpreet has bowled all of 15 overs in the last three years and last picked a wicket over three years ago.

Dropping a batter so early in the tournament is also unlikely, even though the dot-ball percentage of Rawal and Harleen Deol has come under scrutiny, and Rodrigues has bagged two ducks in three knocks. Leaving out a batter would again make it tricky for India's batting line-up that's not been up to mark this World Cup.

Replacing one batter with another in the XI later in the tournament - whether for form or a niggle - will also probably not be an option for India because their only batting reserve in the squad of 15 is wicketkeeper-batter Uma Chetry, who hasn't received her ODI cap yet.

"See, I don't think it's a major concern because our batters have handled these situations very well in the past," Rana said, backing her team batters to fire soon. "Ups and downs are part and parcel of the game, they can happen anytime. But we have some of the best batters in the world on our side. It's just a matter of one good knock, and I'm hopeful they'll bounce back very soon.

"All the batters are working on their strengths, and everyone knows where they need to improve. Each player is taking individual training for that. If we talk about strike rate, whatever has been lacking in the past few months, everyone is aware of it and as a team, we discuss it, regroup, and work towards improving it."

India will hope for a big knock against Australia on Sunday because another loss will push them down towards the middle of the table with their next game against England, the current table-toppers, and the one after against New Zealand, who returned to winning ways recently.