Rangaswamy backs Mithali to fire against Australia

New Delhi
Former captains Diana Edulji and Shantha Rangaswamy feel the Indian women’s cricket team can’t afford to ”blow hot and cold” in a big event like the ongoing World Cup and called for consistency in the batting department.
India has two wins and as many losses to their name in the World Cup and after the defeat against England, they face the mighty Australians on Saturday.
Edulji feels too many changes are being made in the batting order. Deepti Sharma batted at three in the first two games before skipper Mithali Raj replaced her in that position against West Indies and England.
Mithali, who has been the team’s most consistent batter over the last 12 months, is yet to fire in the tournament while Harmanpreet has roared back to form after a prolonged lean patch that saw her getting dropped from the bilateral series against New Zealand before the World Cup.
Edulji, who had called for Harmanpreet’s exclusion from the playing eleven last month, is happy that she was proved wrong by the senior batter who has hit a hundred and 50 batting at four in the ICC event so far.
Edulji wants Harmanpreet, who has been batting at five, and opener Smriti Mandhana to get maximum time in the middle.
”When they (Harman and Smriti) are in form and have confidence between themselves, let them play as many overs as they can. They complement each other and they run well between the wickets. The opening pair (Smriti and Yastika) is fine as Shafali doesn’t seem to be in form.
”Harmanpreet can bat at three if you want a left-hand right-hand combination, followed by Deepti, and Mithali can control the innings at five if there is a top-order collapse.
”Too many changes are being made at the moment. Let the players know they are going to bat at this number, tell them they are safe at that number. Harman has to bat higher now that she is in form.