India's Yastika-Fulmali conundrum

Fresh off her explosive finish against Pakistan, Richa Ghosh had a tough start to her net stint on Tuesday, a day ahead of India's clash against Netherlands. Unsettled by the varied pace of Nandni Sharma's sharp bouncers, Shafali Verma's right-arm unpredictables and a local net bowler who repeatedly beat her, Ghosh shook her head and left the nets to get a change of bat.

During that bat-change, Bharti Fulmali took strike. First up, she lofted Shafali on the legside; a shot which would have taken the ball past the inner ring towards mid wicket.

Amol Muzumdar, the head coach, wasn't too impressed. In his world, that's a "Nothing shot". The suggestion was either hit hard or along the ground.

Fulmali, who has scripted a dramatic return to the national team at age 31, finds herself in a key position in India's quest for maiden T20 glory. She needs to provide muscle, but also play high-risk cricket while her spot in the XI comes under competition.

In the England series preceding the World Cup, India's experiment with Yastika Bhatia delivered mixed results upon her return from injury. She took on the opposition in the Powerplay, but struggled thereafter; her scoring rate dropping from 202 to 85 in the post-Powerplay period. While her overall scoring rate of 128.68 for the 168 runs she chipped in across four games remained fairly impressive for a player marking her return after nearly nine months, it doesn't necessarily solve a problem for the team.

That concern didn't find an adequate answer in the warm-up games either. However, after Fulmali failed to make the most of her opportunity in the World Cup opener against Pakistan, getting stumped off her third ball, the team management went back to Yastika against Netherlands. The southpaw departed in a similar fashion – off her fourth ball.

Fulmali has had a few knocks of note since her return – against South Africa, the ECB Development XI and in the warm-up game – but probably not enough to break the door open. If Yastika does play at No. 3, it presents a different challenge – one or both of Harmanpreet Kaur and Jemimah Rodrigues may have to play out of position.

This batting position not having an ideal candidate becomes a bigger concern since India's middle order – barring Richa Ghosh – hasn't fired in full flow so far, and there wasn't a lot of batting muscle past No. 7. Aavishkar Salvi, the bowling coach, brushes aside the concerns.

"Every game we go with a fresh slate," Salvi said on Friday. "We think about what the pitch is going to offer, what the opposition is like. Accordingly, we choose our best 11. It is horses for courses. Role identification has been done. It is not about the batting number, it is about the situation. If the situation demands someone to play aggressively, they will. Right now, everybody is clear with their roles. As long as the process is right, we are in the right direction."

As the tournament heats up and India drifts towards tougher challenges, finding clarity in the line-up and roles assigned to batters will become crucial. It's a tough headache to have, but the good part is there are just two options to choose from. And ideally, one to stick with.