India entered the 12-team tournament with the form of their top order as a concern, but Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma have largely allayed those fears.
Mandhana has scored 159 runs in three matches, while Shafali has contributed 92, with both batters striking at over 154 and consistently providing brisk starts.
However, the inability of the middle order to build on those platforms has emerged as a fresh concern for the team management.
Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur (SR 109.09), Jemimah Rodrigues (94.11) and Yastika Bhatia (105.88) have each been unable to carry on the momentum provided by the openers, and their failure to accelerate invariably has left a lot to do for the likes of Richa Ghosh and Deepti Sharma.
Having played three matches each, both Kaur and Rodrigues have managed just 11 boundaries between them without hitting a single six. Yastika, meanwhile, has struck only three fours in two innings, numbers that are likely to worry the Indian camp heading deeper into the tournament.
On their part, Richa (176.92) and Deepti (159.37) have responded well to the challenge but arriving late in the innings with limited deliveries to face has increased the pressure on the duo.
Despite their lopsided batting, India (4 points in 3 matches, Net Run Rate of 2.511) are reaping the benefits of victories by big margins — by 64 runs against Pakistan and by 95 runs against the Netherlands — as they look to hold on to the second spot in Group A.
