Queenstown, Feb 18 (IANS): India's women's cricket team head coach Ramesh Powar on Friday said that the team management is trying to assess how bowlers can pick wickets consistently in the middle overs of the game.

Citing rustiness and lack of game time as the reason behind India conceding the ODI series to New Zealand, Powar assured that the bowling attack will find the right rhythm ahead of the Women's Cricket World Cup.

After posting 279, India were unable to defend the score as New Zealand won third ODI by three wickets to seal the series with two matches to go. "When we assess these (three) ODIs and one T20I, we had only three days of practice sessions. I have to give it to the players. In such less time, you can't get into a competitive series like New Zealand. There will be some rustiness. Going forward, we are trying to address issues in bowling, the middle overs where we can pick up wickets," said Powar in the virtual press conference.

Powar then pointed out the improvements made by the batting unit in the ongoing series. "There have been a couple of 100-run partnerships in ODIs, so we are trying to break that. The players have tried their best, with limited practice and Covid situations, quarantines... we are on the right track. Batting has clicked, we have discussed a lot of things."

"From England to where we are now, we have scored 280, 270. In Australia too we scored well. Batting unit is doing their job. Now, the bowling unit has to get into a rhythm. The bowlers will come back hard when the World Cup starts."

Asked about senior batter Harmanpreet Kaur's lean returns with the bat, Powar remarked, "I will stick to my statement. It is upto Harman to get back into form. It's the player's mind which works in the pressure situations. We can create those in nets otherwise, it is upto that particular player to come out of that zone and do well."

Powar mentioned that the side is trying to give as much game time as possible for the bowlers ahead of the World Cup. "The four games we have had, we tried different bowling attacks, with the limitations of unavailability of fast bowlers. So, we are trying to get everyone into the zone where they can bowl at any time, be it powerplay or middle or death overs. We are trying a lot of combinations."

"And when you get into the World Cup, you can't set a combination like we are going to go with six or five bowlers. Every opponent is different. When you play Pakistan or Australia, the approach will be different. We are trying to create combinations with bowlers and allrounders. So, we are trying to give all of them game time so that we can use them according to opponents."