Radha’s success big takeaway for India in series sweep

BANGLADESH'S BATTING unit finally showed some fight but India's total of 156/5 always seemed distant on Thursday. Eventually, a 21-run win in Sylhet led India to a 5-0 clean sweep that seemed to be in the offing from the moment the series kicked off.

Nigar Sultana Joty's side struggled right through the series to be competitive with the bat, but there was more resistance in the final match. At 5/52 in the 10th over, it seemed another drubbing was imminent, but Ritu Moni and Shorifa Khatun put together the most intent-filled partnership we had seen from the hosts as they crossed 120 for the first time in the series.

Perhaps by that point, India had taken the foot off their pedal too. It's difficult to be critical of a side that has just won an away series 5-0, but Thursday wasn't the best of nights on the field for Harmanpreet Kaur-led India.

But purely from India seeking to finetune their plans for the T20 World Cup in October, the performance in the final match highlighted a few obvious areas to work on. It was another reminder of the work the team needs to do to improve their fielding, with dropped catches and misfields galore.

The biggest positive to emerge from the series was Radha Yadav's comeback after being out of contention for a year. With three wickets on the day, and 10 in the series, she walked off with both the individual awards – for the match and the series. Radha had once been on a streak of 27 straight T20IS where she picked up at least one wicket. On her return to the side, she picked up at least one wicket in each of the five matches too. Her delivery to dismiss skipper Nigar was the pick of the bunch in the final match. Her armball can be a handful on most days but she actually got one to deviate off the pitch with the angle too, a variation that deceived the batter completely.

Radha's form in the WPL brought her back into the national team, but it was also her work for Baroda in the domestic season and the work she has put in the offseason on improving her fitness that has reaped dividends. A gun fielder and more than a handy batter, Radha has made a strong case to not just be in the World Cup squad, but be a sureshot starter.

Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana looked fluent while D Hemalatha – despite struggling for timing early on and getting reprieves – impressed again during her knock of 37, showing off her skills to clear the rope against spin.

But another middle-order wobble followed, where India have struggled constantly. This is where Richa Ghosh's presence in the lower order has become so crucial. It was her 17-ball 28 that helped India cross 150 eventually, a total they have to treat as bare minimum against tougher opponents at the World Cup. Deepti Sharma and Sajana Sajeevan didn't impress in that regard, and India will hope Richa isn't left to carry all the weight on her young, and able, shoulders.

BRIEF SCORES: India 156/5 (D Hemalatha 37, Smriti Mandhana 33, Rabeya Khan 2/28) beat Bangladesh 135/6 (Ritu Moni 37, Radha Yadav 3/24) by 21 runs