India women head coach Amol Muzumdar on WC opener v New Zealand
03/02/2024
Dubai International Stadium, Dubai
03/02/2024
Dubai International Stadium, Dubai
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SportsTranscript
00:00Hi coach, how are you doing? I'm fine. I'm glad you're smiling. We'll have some
00:05questions for you. We'll have some questions for you. We'll probably start
00:10with what everyone's thinking about. Is there a dedicated number three now? Have
00:15you just zeroed in on one person to fill that slot? Has the warm-up games or
00:19anything, just the build-up given you any clarity on who you're gonna slot there?
00:22Yeah, absolutely. Not just the warm-up games but we had already decided back in
00:26India and in the in the camps that happened before we set off from Mumbai.
00:34We had a lovely camp in Bangalore and we had decided there itself. And these
00:40basically pre World Cup matches absolutely stamped that for us. Is it a
00:46surprise? Not at all. You can guess it. Go through the scorecard you'll find out.
00:52I have a question. I'm not gonna ask you who your number three is. I have a slightly
00:57different question. In what prompted that experiment to try out
01:03different number threes? Like Jemima was a set number three even in your first
01:09couple of series as India head coach. And then you know her injury of course. And
01:13then what prompted trying different different options you know leading right
01:18up till you know till you landed in Dubai? Well to be very honest we were
01:24we were thinking of a different combination that is five batters, one
01:29wicketkeeper who I consider her as an all-rounder and then three all-rounders
01:34in the team and then two bowlers. So I thought you know we were trying out a
01:40few things but in the end I think 5-5 and one wicketkeeper is a good option.
01:50Hello coach. Leading into the World Cup compared to the previous occasions,
01:57previous editions, we have a lot more variety in each department whether it's
02:01batting, bowling. India has had that much variety. So how hard or easy it has been
02:06to finalize the playing eleven given how many people have performed at
02:11different levels whenever they needed throughout whatever opportunities they've
02:15gotten? That's a actually a good headache to have. You know we we do have a lot of
02:23talent in the team, talent in this 15 and beyond as well. So as I said good
02:29headache to have but you know me, Harman, Smriti, we enjoy that kind of a stuff
02:37where we try out different combinations and then you know finally we have you
02:43know figured out the the right combination that we are going to play
02:48tomorrow and yeah I mean you know people whoever has got an opportunity they've
02:55performed at their own numbers whether it is a batting number or you know
03:03whether it is bowling you know they've performed really well and that's why
03:06they're there in the team. So I think yeah we found the right combination I
03:11guess. Amol, when you took over as coach looking at the medium to long term you
03:17would have identified like a few you know goals or milestones along the
03:22journey planning to the World Cup and beyond. Can you just take us through you
03:26know how you've kind of worked towards implementing or you know kind of
03:31ticking off those checklists along the way and what are the challenges that
03:37have come along while trying to do so? Well my journey is not that big so I
03:42will be very brief about it. It's only 10 months that that I've taken
03:48over. The first month we played a series against England and Australia, two good
03:54sides in world cricket. After the two series I got a fair idea of where we are
04:00and you know we started our campaign a World Cup campaign just post that series
04:07and we started putting all our minds and energy towards this tournament and
04:12here we are. You know along the way I think we have had a successful WPL, not
04:21to forget that. It was a great effort on the part of BCCI that you know it was a
04:26massive success. Then we had a series in Bangladesh. We had a T20 series, five T20
04:34series which was arranged along with the South Africa series. In between we had a
04:39camp and then we had a tough South Africa series as well where we won the
04:47three ODIs test match and then squared the T20 series. So I think along
04:54the way we've had a fantastic season leading up to the World Cup. Really
04:59looking forward for the World Cup now. Also I mean not sure if this is directly
05:04related to the World Cup but given the fact that you know there was an 8-0 to
05:07Australia and how much of a sync are you in with the coaches there and do
05:12they kind of give you feedback on player development and how have you kind of
05:15housed the sync between the two systems that happen and also in a way this is
05:20the first World Cup cycle where you know you have a WPL records and stats and
05:27players who perform well into a World Cup because the previous one happened I
05:31think it's just before right. So in that sense do you think that's kind of been a
05:36massive boost in terms of giving you an idea of where certain players are?
05:42To answer your first question I think you know it's been a collective effort
05:50not just from the Indian team or the Indian contingent but also from the NCA
05:55where VVS you know is heading it and I've had a full support from him and
06:03been fantastic completely in sync with the coaches over there for India A tour
06:09to Australia. Had a constant chat, a feedback was given post the tour as
06:17well so I think you know we're trying to formalize a lot of a lot of stuff apart
06:24from the Indian contingent as I said the India A is also very important for us so
06:30that we get a lot of players and the bench strength is stronger. Then your
06:36next question I think WPL has been a very successful tournament so far in the
06:43last couple of editions I mean you've seen you know what response WPL has had.
06:50Obviously the the stats have helped and we have dig into a lot of statistics and
06:59we've seen the results I mean some of the players that have come into the
07:03Indian squad here at the World Cup I think a product of WPL as well. Of course
07:08not not undermining the first-class cricket as well back home but WPL has
07:14given us a strong base to find players.
07:20Since day one coach you have talked about fitness and fielding. You just
07:27said ten months into the job these many series one multi-team event and now we
07:32are heading into the World Cup. How satisfied you are with the efforts that
07:36I put in and also with the results that have come out because that was one of
07:41the areas that needed to be worked on for the longest time and you said it in
07:46first go that you wanted to concentrate on it. So ten months you've been
07:50following. Basically if you see the first press conference I had said that
07:58you know fielding and fitness would be of prime importance and we have worked
08:04upon it you know thoroughly gone deeper into it and try to absolutely work
08:10individually first in regards with the volume as far as fielding is concerned
08:17and then fitness we have paid attention to each individual to take take their
08:23fitness levels to the next level. So I think we have put in that effort. The
08:29effort has been there. I think you will definitely see the results.
08:35Hi coach. Harman hasn't bowled in T20s in a long while now and that sort of takes
08:43off that four over bowler option, the sixth bowling option in your
08:48combination. Is that something that's been actively discussed, the lack of a
08:52sixth proper four over bowler option between you know you three, you Smriti,
08:58Harman in the leadership group? Yeah I mean we've paid a lot of attention to
09:05the sixth bowling option. Also for a fact that we have had a multiple discussions
09:11on our top six within our top six you know at least three to four have to
09:18bowl and if we can you know get those overs out of them then you know nothing
09:24like it and all of them could bowl. So it's just a question of applying and
09:32just putting in those hard yards in the nets and then converting that into a
09:38match performance. So I think yeah Harman hasn't bowled but I think she bowled in
09:42the second T20 warm-ups and she's experienced enough to bowl those overs.
09:50Thank you. Yeah thank you. Thanks.