Navi Mumbai, Jan 13 (IANS) Head coach Abhishek Nayar explained that UP Warriorz’s batting order change was due to opposition strategies after Kiran Navgire was moved down to No. 4, admitting that sending Harleen Deol to open against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) was a mistake, and “he takes full responsibility” for that.

Harleen’s struggles with the bat have been evident in the past two games. She batted in the middle order in the team’s campaign opener against Gujarat Giants, and was dismissed for a two-ball duck.

In the recently concluded clash against RCB, she opened alongside skipper Meg Lanning and could manage only 11 runs off 14 deliveries before being sent packing by Lauren Bell.

“We felt that with the moving ball at that point, Harleen could add a bit of value in the powerplay. She’s obviously technically correct. It didn’t work out today. I felt it turned out to be the wrong decision. I take complete responsibility for it. But I think the thought process behind it was having some solidity up top and then hopefully having that power later on as the pitch gets better, because we anticipated a bit of swing initially.

“I thought those match-ups for Kiran Navgire in the middle would work. [But they] didn’t work today. So I look foolish,” Nayar told reporters at the post-match press conference.

Navgire scored 1 run off 4 balls in UPW’s 208-run chase against Gujarat Giants, while Deol was out for a duck in two balls. However, Phoebe Litchfield’s 78, along with lower-order cameos, kept UPW competitive as they lost by only ten runs.

One notable cameo was from Shweta Sehrawat, who made a 17-ball 25 with three sixes and a four. Batting at No. 6, she hit her first ball, bowled by Renuka Singh, for a six over extra cover.

Speaking of Sehrawat, a top-order batter by nature, being slotted in the middle over while also being handed the wicketkeeping duties, Nayar said, “For her career, I think it’s a great step moving forward. Giving her the gloves, in my head, was a KL Rahul sort of move, where it brightens her chances of making it to the India squad, especially seeing that there aren’t a lot of options.

“She’s a tremendous batter with a lot of capability, power and flair. She has been working on a couple of shots, and we’ve seen that in practice matches and during her preparation. But it was good to see a sample size of it in a game. I have a lot more expectations from her through the season because I truly believe she has the potential to don the India colours and do exceedingly well.

“In 15 days of practice, she has been keeping to Sophie Ecclestone, Deepti Sharma and Asha. So with a little more keeping under her belt, I really feel she can be a great prospect for the Indian women’s team.”

Against RCB, Deol struggled to score against Lauren Bell, facing nine dot balls during her 14-ball innings before mistiming a shot to mid-off. Navgire scored five off three balls before losing her wicket at deep midwicket.

Her dismissal contributed to a collapse where UPW lost four wickets for 11 runs, dropping to 50/5. Deepti Sharma and Deandra Dottin then played carefully to carry the innings to a total of 143/5.

“In today’s game, you can’t talk too much about the batting order because we lost wickets in heaps. In our mind, it was quite simple. Everyone had their roles clear. But when you lose so many wickets, what role? You just have to go out and play.

“For me, in T20 cricket, the numbers after your top three don’t really matter. The top three today was a call based on the opposition. Although I believe in having players play set roles, I also felt that today it didn’t work out. But that doesn’t mean Harleen can’t do it, or that Kiran can’t do it. It just didn’t work out today. If she had scored 100, we’d be having a different conversation,” Nayad added.

–IANS

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