The chink in the Indian armour is the batting

Ever since India made their maiden appearance in the Women's World Cup in the 1978 competition hosted by India, they have done little to improve their standing in the shorter variety of the game. After three more World Cup tournaments, India still rank among the top four in the world. If ever there have been hopes of improving India's standing, it is in the VII edition, the CricInfo Women's World Cup which got underway on Wednesday at Christchurch.

India have beaten England in India and England in the last few years and have won the Triangular series involving World champions Australia and hosts New Zealand in 1995. England is in the process of rebuilding their team while India have inched their way up with improved standards and performances.

The pitches that the games will be played on are reportedly bouncier than they were a few years ago when India emerged victors in the Triangular series. But there appears to be a high level of confidence in the Indian team that augurs well for them in the CricInfo World Cup.

India's drubbing to the Wellington side in a warm up game should boost their morale but a tie in the second warm up game against the same side should help them get rid of any complacency that might have crept in. Smitha Harikrishna's tight bowling spell (4 for 17) in the second game at a crunch situation should warm many Indian hearts. Neetu David's 5 for 13 in the tour opener emphasises yet again the Indian reliance on spin.

India's strong point is the spin attack, which has been the case since inception. The spin attack comprising of Purnima Rau, Neetu David, Deepa Kulkarni and Roopanjali Shastri makes it a potent one capable of upsetting any team on a given day. As the Australian captain Belinda Clark has said," it is impossible to write off India, as they are unpredictable."

The one chink in the Indian armour is its batting. While the bowlers have invariably delivered, they have not been left with enough runs to defend. This time around, things look brighter with the Indians having been amongst runs in the last few seasons. With skipper Anju Jain, left handed Anjum Chopra and teenage sensation Mithali Raj getting big runs for India and the batting line up looking stronger than before, India is poised to do well in this World Cup.

The best thing for India will be to have a player like Anjum Chopra who plays the sheet anchor role to perfection while keeping the scoreboard ticking. With natural stroke makers like Purnima Rau, Roopanjali Shastri and Hemalata Kala to bat during the slog overs, India will be well advised to keep their wickets intact initially.

The Indian captain has also an additional motivation (playing for India by itself is enough) as she can overhaul the best individual score by an Indian in a World Cup fixture which stands to the credit of Fowzieh Khaleeli (88) made against England in 1982 at Napier. Purnima Rau, with a tally of 23 wickets in the World Cup, is all set to overhaul Diana Edulji's tally of 31 wickets.

The Indian team takes on the South Africans on November 30 with a high level of confidence. South Africa lost to India in the 1997 World Cup but they have raised their standards since then, losing 2-3 to England in 1999. Self-trust is the essence of heroism. They only conquer who believe they can.