India may reassess spin strategy on the batting-friendly Barsapara pitch

Guwahati, Sep 29 (PTI) India might just have to revisit their spin-oriented strategy for the ICC Women's World Cup opener against Sri Lanka here on Tuesday, as the ACA Barsapara Stadium pitch is likely to retain its batting friendly nature with little assistance for the slow bowlers.

The pitch hosted two matches of the Rajasthan Royals during the IPL 2025 in March, with the Royals scoring 151/9 and 182/9 in those games.

"Barsapara wicket never assisted spin. It has always been a good sporting wicket and there should be no difference this time," one of the curators told PTI, hinting that it could be a high-scoring game if the batters apply themselves.

With the city under a spell of heat, dew is not expected to be a concern. "There has not been much dew these days, it’s high heat," added a groundsman.

Spinners have traditionally been India's strength at home, and the think tank had relied on four spinners and a solitary pacer (Kranti Goud) against world champions Australia in the first ODI of the bilateral series leading up to the tournament.

However, with the return of pacer Renuka Singh after a six-months break because of a stress fracture, the dynamics have changed.

In such a scenario, India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur could rejig her bowling combination to include three seamers, with all-rounder Amanjot Kaur may also be in the mix of things.

In the spin department, while seasoned campaigner Deepti Sharma is an automatic choice, it remains to be seen whether India go with both Radha Yadav and Sneh Rana or opt for either one of them.

Radha offers a superior fielding option and Sneh provides additional batting depth.

"Well, spinners have always been our biggest strength. They were always there when the team needed and no doubt whenever we showed more trust in them, they always did well for the team," said Harmanpreet on the eve of their World Cup opener.

"But today we have a practice session, we will see how the pitch is behaving and the conditions and everything in the morning. Then we will decide the XI," she said.

For Harmanpreet, Barsapara poses a relatively new challenge as she had missed India's last visit here in 2019 during a three-match T20I series against England, which India lost 0-3 under Smriti Mandhana's captaincy.

"We played three T20s here in 2019. I was injured at that time, and those were day games. After so many years the conditions must have changed, but we've played so much cricket that we know conditions are quite similar everywhere," she added.

On the unfamiliar conditions, she said: "Yeah, no doubt it is quite a new venue for us, but in India many stadiums have a very similar feel, similar pitches and we have played a lot of cricket in India.

"For us we are looking at the opportunities, we always wanted to host ICC events where we can enjoy the conditions and play in front of the home crowd. So, I think the entire team is very excited, we are really looking forward. We have been playing cricket for a long time," she added. PTI TAP UNG