VADODARA: Enroute to her maiden fiver (five for 29 in 10 overs, including one maiden) against the West Indies to fashion India’s 211-run rout of the visitors in the opening Women’s ODI at the Kotambi Stadium here on Sunday night, pacer Renuka Singh Thakur gave the motley 1500-odd, but enthusiastic crowd plenty of moments of ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ with her deadly, almost unplayable in-swingers, one of which crashed into the stumps of Shabika Gajnabi like a guided ‘missile.’
It’s an art the 28-year-old has perfected by working hard on it since her budding years in the game. It’s a craft which makes her one of the deadliest new-ball bowlers in international cricket in women’s cricket at the moment.
“It really feels good to claim a maiden fifer in ODIs because it’s hard to get wickets in this format. I have worked hard on (bowling) in-swing since my early days and I constantly hone my skills so that I can enjoy more success,” Renuka said, after her devastating first spell of 8-1-19-4 left the West Indies limping at 34 for six and eventually all out for a meagre 103 in 26.2 overs under the lights.
On the eve of the game, India’s head coach Amol Muzumdar had pointed out that dew will play a factor in the series – it always is, especially in the ODIs in the subcontinent – but Renuka and her new-ball operator, the talented Titas Sadhu countered that threat by bowling an immaculate line and length in their opening spells. “Our plan was to bowl stump-to-stump and that helped us. Since it got a bit cold in the evening and dew was settling in, it helped us,” Renuka said.
Even the West Indies women’s team head coach Shane Deitz admitted that his team’s plan was to take advantage of the dew factor, which is why they decided to bowl first. “The idea was to get some early wickets, put India under pressure and restrict them under 250 and chase it down. There’s a massive dew now, so it would have been difficult to bowl in the second half,” Deitz said.
Credit must also go to the Indian women’s team’s bowling coach Aavishkar Salvi for preparing India’s pace trio of Renuka, Titas and Saima Thakor for the challenge of playing white-ball matches under lights. “We were discussing how to bowl under lights and which deliveries will be effective. We tried out several deliveries – including some in-swingers and out-swingers – and it was a good session. Since we prepare together, we know each other’s strengths,” the 28-year-old from Shimla in Himachal Pradesh said.
A valuable piece of advice by India’s pace bowling great Jhulan Goswami, currently Mumbai Indians’ bowling coach in the Women’s Premier League, to try and land the ball on the same spot on the turd, has helped Thakur, who is now just the fourth India fast bowler to take a five-wicket haul in WODIs and has taken 30 wickets in 17 WODIs @23.36, become more effective in this format.
“In the ODIs, it depends on how many balls you can land in the same spot. I spoke to Jhulan (Goswami) di, and she told me the more balls I pitch in the same area, the more wickets I will get,” Renuka said at the post-match presentation.
Her maiden WODI fiver is a fine comeback by Renuka after she endured an ordinary time in the WODI series in Australia, where she had started off well, taking three for 45 in seven overs at Brisbane in the first match, in Brisbane, before conceding 1-78 in 10 overs at the same venue in the second match, and then 0-54 in 10 overs at the WACA in Perth in the third and final game. The fast bowler said that despite being blanked 3-0 by the Aussies, the players did not lose hope. “We kept believing in ourselves and we knew things would eventually get better,” Renuka said.
At the post-match presentation, Renuka said, “I’m feeling very good. Firstly, I am happy because everyone backed me so much. I have worked a lot on my fitness and hence could bowl eight overs on the trot, and that proves my fitness. The wicket was helping us, the weather got colder. I wanted to hit the right areas and I got assistance (from the pitch).”
She particularly relished West Indies’ veteran allrounder Deandra Dottin’s wicket, who was bowled while trying a wild heave. “It was a very good ball and to dismiss a batter like her, it feels nice,” Renuka said.