After getting replaced by former Indian spinner Ramesh Powar, ousted Indian Women's team coach Tushar Arothe, in an interview to CricNext said that he was unconvinced about India's chances of winning the World T20, scheduled to start on November 9 in West Indies. Arothe had to step down as coach after senior players questioned his training methods.
Arothe believes that the team may not be adequately prepared for the assignment.The former coach questioned team’s bowling and fielding standards; having only three frontline bowlers in form of Mansi Joshi, Pooja Vastrakar and Arundhati Reddy makes the Indian squad heavily reliant on its spinners.
"In batting, we have Smriti Mandhana, Mithali Raj and Harman, but my concern is the fast bowling department,” Arothe told CricketNext in an exclusive interview. “I am not happy with it at all. Mansi is short of match practice, Pooja is inexperienced and we don't have Shikha Pandey in the team. So, is the team going to play with only one pacer? And if that is the case, it's going to backfire.
"I don't know what the selectors were thinking while picking the team. The big question is where are we heading when all the teams have started playing with 3-4 fast bowlers?
"Your frontline bowler is Mansi, who didn't play in the series against Australia A. Then the bench doesn't look that strong too. If she is your strike bowler she should have played. What if we get a bouncy wicket in the West Indies? What combination will the team go with then?