IND-W vs AUS-W ODI Series: 'About breaking shackles and barriers,' says former India skipper Anjum Chopra

India men's team is currently in Australia for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) and the women's team now has arrived Down Under for a three-match ODI series which begins on Thursday (Dec 5) in Brisbane.

India are coming off a 2-1 victory against New Zealand in a home ODI series but the tournament-ending loss against Aussie women in the ICC Women's T20 World Cup in October would still be fresh in their minds.

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India women lost narrowly, by nine runs in their final group fixture in the ICC tournament against Australia and this series could be their chance to shake off the heartbreaking loss.

India have also made some changes in the squad as they have dropped opener Shafali Verma and have called the likes of Uma Chetry and Harleen Deol.

In a conversation with WION, former India women skipper Anjum Chopra talked about India players to look out for in the series among others. Here's the interview:

The first question would be that Shafali Verma dropped from the squad. How do you see this move?

It's a selector's call. And if they feel that the decision of giving a break to Shefali is essential, then it's fine. It's not that she's been arrested or not picked for this at the back of some breathtaking performances or match-winning performances. It hasn't been like that. And there are quite a few contenders for the opener slot in the women's set up at this point of time. So I think it's about giving others an opportunity as well. So Shefali is a very talented cricketer, and I'm sure she's going to work hard and come back.

Where do you think that India women team lags than the Australian team per se? They have ability, they have talent, and they have been performing, but during clutch moments, they seem to have fallen short more often than not.

It's a contest. Okay, so in Australia, we all know across sports, they are a very strong competitive unit, and they tend to have more victories than many other nations across the globe. So for us, we are a very work in progress team. We are a good side. But for us to become a world beating side, obviously the talent has to be now superseded by a performance and a regular performance. So we are very close to breaking those shackles and breaking those barriers. But as I say, it's a work in progress team. Each outing is only going to improve the players' confidence and how you can play the innings better or how you can chase down targets or set targets. So with every outing, the team is going to become better. And it's always trying to become better each day.

One question about Smriti Mandhana. Do you think that she takes a bit much pressure while opening the innings? She takes a bit of time to break the shackles off and then get going. She can play a bit freely?

I do not know that whether she takes pressure or no. She herself can probably answer that, whether she takes pressure. Number one, it's not about not taking pressure. When you're in a run situation and you're playing, even if you're in an office and you have to meet a deadline, there is pressure. So it's about not taking extra pressure, it's about handling expectations. So whether she takes pressure or not, she can answer that question. Now, you're saying about opening and non-opening. Again, it's up to her and between the team management where they decide what is the best batting position for her.

Which player from India do you see will have an impact in the upcoming series? Which are the players to look out for?

Again, there are a lot of players who are touring Australia for the very first time. I think, barring three or four of them, everyone is going there as a For a series, that especially. But WBW exposure has been provided. So it's exciting how Saima Thakur comes out, how Arundhati Reddy comes out. If Uma Chetry is given an opportunity to play there, very keen on watching her don the gloves for India and play in the one-day game. It will be very interesting how Renuka Singh, Thakur, of course, she already has experience, how she manages. Because it's a 50-over contest. It's not a 20-over match. It's very interesting and it's going to be a good contest.

About Richa Ghosh - Can she bat up the order a bit. She has shown that she has the ability to rotate strike and make big hits. Can India benefit from sending her up the order?

I think one game, she batted higher up against Australia. One of the games, she got 94 or 96. It's not about situation. We are 11 players, so somebody has to bat in the top order, somebody in the middle order, somebody in the lower order. So at this point of time, we are actually trying to understand what is our middle order and lower middle order. There are many contenders for top order, but we have to make sure that our middle and lower middle order is also getting an adequate attention. So anybody can bat in the top of the order. But who's going to bat in the middle order and the lower middle order is probably a bigger question right now or the bigger challenge.

India Women squad for Australia ODIs: Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), Smriti Mandhana (vice-capt), Priya Punia, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harleen Deol, Richa Ghosh (wk), Tejal Hasabnis, Deepti Sharma, Minnu Mani, Priya Mishra, Radha Yadav, Titas Sadhu, Arundhati Reddy, Renuka Singh, Saima Thakor, Uma Chetry (wk)