Women’s T20 Tri-series 2020: Indian team in a grave state?

At one point India needed 41 in 35 balls in Tri-Nation Series final. They had seven wickets in hand. Harmanpreet Kaur held the forting without accelerating much, whereas Smriti Mandhana toyed with Australian bowling.

India had two choices at that point. They could have continued to attack, before playing defensively. Or else, they could have taken things slowly, keeping wickets in hand, not taking risks.

Mandhana (scored 66 in 37 balls) opted for the former. To deep mid-wicket off Megan Schutt. she holed out.
Contrast this with Australia’s innings. In the 18th over they were 121/5 . Just like Mandhana, Beth Mooney had been with a 54-ball 71 not out. Unlike Mandhana, she had the luxury of having a Rachael Haynes batting at No 7. Haynes took Australia to 155/6 with a 7-ball 18.
Kaur, Verma and Mandhana were three of six batters to have scored over 100 runs, while Jemimah Rodrigues finished at ninth place.

The Big Four are not a problem for India as they scored at 120 in the tournament.
The problem lies with the others that are in the top seven. That is where India, almost every time, scored at roughly the same pace (around 85) in the death overs.
All three defeats have involved exposure of the middle-order, No 5 and below.

This shows there is a problem with Indian format. Nothing seems to have changed. With less than two weeks to go before the tournament, the scenario is not ideal for Indian team. Where batting is grave, there is also a problem with India’s bowling. They should figure out which spinner to leave.