India head coach Amol Muzumdar acknowledged that the team's bowling attack is still evolving after India suffered a six-wicket defeat to South Africa in a high-stakes 2026 Women's T20 World Cup group match at Old Trafford, Manchester on 22 June. Muzumdar said the inexperience across the bowling unit is a temporary challenge and urged patience, predicting marked improvement within 24 months.

A Bowling Unit Still Finding Its Feet

Barring Sree Charani's three-wicket haul and a spell from Shafali Verma, India's bowlers struggled to make inroads against a composed South African batting line-up. Marizanne Kapp anchored the chase with an unbeaten 81 off 45 balls, exploiting the inexperience on display.

Muzumdar was candid about the unit's limitations. 'You have to take into consideration that the entire bowling attack apart from Deepti is very inexperienced. Give them some time in international cricket. Somebody like Charani, very new to international cricket. Prema Rawat (was) playing her first game,' he said at the post-match interaction. He added: 'Even when Shreyanka was there, she is very new to international cricket. (So is) Kranti Gaud, and so is Nandni Sharma. Apart from Deepti, we do have a lot of inexperience in the bowling lineup. Give them some time, give them 24 months, and I'm sure they'll come up (better).'

Costly Dropped Catches Put Kapp in Command

Marizanne Kapp was handed two reprieves — on 25 and 65 — by substitute fielder Radha Yadav, widely regarded as one of India's best in the field. Muzumdar was measured in his response, choosing to back the player rather than single her out. 'Radha has been an exceptional fielder, I think a world-class fielder, and those two catches were (there for taking)... but things happen on a cricket field,' he said. 'Sometimes things go right, sometimes things go wrong. Unfortunately, Radha was on the other side this time, but I'm sure she's a strong character, and I'm sure somewhere in this tournament she'll make up for it,' Muzumdar added.

Middle-Order Collapse Leaves India Short

India posted 159 but fell two runs short of 160 in their innings, with a familiar middle-order wobble proving costly. Harmanpreet Kaur, Jemimah Rodrigues, and Yastika Bhatia fell in quick succession, and Richa Ghosh was kept in check, denying India the finishing flourish they needed.

Muzumdar backed Jemimah Rodrigues despite the lean run. 'Jemi is a clutch player for us. We know for a fact that if she comes good, she'll win us a game. The scores haven't reflected the talent that she has, but I'm sure, in the coming days, she'll come along,' he said. He attributed the cluster of wickets to the high-risk brand of cricket India has consciously adopted, adding: 'There will be stages in T20 cricket where you will have — because of the high-risk factor — a lot of wickets falling... I guess that's the way the nature of the game is. It's not much of a concern.'

Road Ahead: Bangladesh and Australia Await

India's semi-final qualification is now under pressure, with two critical matches remaining — against Bangladesh at Old Trafford and against Australia at Lord's, both later this week. Muzumdar remained confident despite the setback. 'We knew it as soon as the schedule came out that this was going to be the crunch game. You need to give credit where it deserves. But we still have two more games to look forward to. And, there is no doubt in my mind that if we play to our potential, we can be on the right side of those two games,' he concluded.