The ODI series in England was disappointing to say the least and to make matters worse I am likely to sit out the Challenger Series, starting October 2 in Ahmedabad, because of some niggling injuries.
But though we lost 4-0 to England I can honestly say we have taken quite a lot from the experience of playing there. That holds true especially for the younger players in the squad for whom the tour was a first-ever outside the subcontinent. I d say we were enjoying a lot of a confidence after our Asia Cup win but England are a level higher than any of the sides we played in Sri Lanka. The one thing I observed in the England players was their confidence simply brimming which I believe is because of their Ashes win in Australia. Unlike us, England have been consistently playing against good sides and that shows in their performance. They are one of the best fielding sides today.
In analysing our defeat, I d say we didn t give enough importance to partnerships. In fact we hardly had any to build an innings with. Unless at least two decent partnerships can be mustered, it is very difficult to cross 180 to 200. However at a time when the team is losing badly the important thing is to remain positive. Our coach would focus on the good aspects of the match because there is no point in getting the young players down ahead of the next one.
I think where we went wrong in England was picking a lot of inexperienced players. If I had to do it all over again, I would have a mixture of seniors and juniors, giving a little more weightage to experience. On a personal level, I was quite happy with the way I negotiated the England bowlers, especially Jenny Gunn, who had troubled me a lot in our last tour in 2006. Every time I came to bat, Charlotte Edwards would call on Jenny to bowl. So this time I looked up some videos of her from the Quadrangular series and worked out a strategy to negotiate her. I won t reveal my methods but its suffice to say they worked.
Our next tour is to Australia and it will give us an opportunity to get a better idea of the players we d like for the World Cup. No one is a certainty yet and the tour, as well as the domestic tournaments following it, will help in marking out potential players. For now I am looking forward to the Challengers, whether I play in it or not, because there is a lot of new talent there waiting to be discovered.