Give them time: Muzumdar backs inexperienced India attack after SA setback

Reflecting on India’s six-wicket defeat to South Africa in a crucial ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 clash at Old Trafford, head coach Amol Muzumdar backed his young bowling attack despite their struggles against seasoned all-rounder Marizanne Kapp, whose match-winning knock exposed the side’s inexperience and halted India’s winning momentum.

India’s hopes of defending 158 took a hit as South Africa rode on an unbeaten 81 from Kapp to register a vital win. While young left-arm spinner Sree Charani impressed with three wickets and Shafali Verma chipped in with a breakthrough, the rest of the attack struggled to make consistent inroads against a composed South African batting line-up.

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However, Muzumdar believes the current bowling group has the potential to become a much stronger unit with time.

“You have to take into consideration that the entire bowling attack apart from Deepti (Sharma) is very (inexperienced). Give them some time in international cricket. Somebody like Charani, very new to international cricket. Prema Rawat (was) playing her first game.

“Even when Shreyanka (Patil) was there, she is very new to international cricket. (So is) Kranti Gaud, and so is Nandni Sharma. Apart from Deepti, we do have a lot of inexperience in the bowling lineup. Give them some time, give them 24 months, and I’m sure they’ll come up (better),” said Muzumdar.

The coach also came to the defence of Radha Yadav after the substitute fielder dropped two crucial chances offered by Kapp, whose match-winning knock ultimately proved decisive.

“Radha has been an exceptional fielder, I think a world-class fielder, and those two catches were (there for taking)… but things happen on a cricket field. Sometimes things go right, sometimes, things go wrong. Unfortunately, Radha was on the other side this time, but I’m sure, she’s a strong character, and I’m sure somewhere in this tournament she’ll make up for it,” he said.

India’s batting also lost momentum during the middle overs after a promising start. Jemimah Rodrigues, Yastika Bhatia and skipper Harmanpreet Kaur fell in quick succession, preventing India from posting what could have been a more challenging total.

Despite the collapse, Muzumdar insisted there was no reason for concern and reiterated the team’s commitment to playing an aggressive brand of cricket.

“Jemi is a clutch player for us. We know for a fact that if she comes good, she’ll win us a game. The scores haven’t reflected the talent that she has, but I’m sure, in the coming days, she’ll come along. There will be stages in T20 cricket where you will have – because of the high-risk factor – a lot of wickets falling.

“And we have been playing a brand of cricket, a fearless brand of cricket, which we have emphasised on. So I guess there will be some days where we will have those wickets falling in a cluster. But I guess that’s the way the nature of the game is. It’s not much of a concern,” he said.

With matches against Bangladesh and Australia still remaining in the group stage, Muzumdar remains confident that India can bounce back and stay on course for a semifinal berth.

“We knew it as soon as the schedule came out that this was going to be the crunch game. You need to give credit where it deserves.

“Of course, it was a big game, there’s no doubt about it. But we still have two more games to look forward to. And, there is no doubt in my mind that if we play to our potential, we can be on the right side of those two games,” concluded Muzumdar.