Yastika, opening in ODIs for the first time, struggled to get going against a tight New Zealand bowling attack and was out for 28 in the 20th over. Smriti and Deepti, on the other hand, fell in the first 10 overs against New Zealand.

“Honestly, Shafali was not in greatest of form when you see the last New Zealand series. We wanted to give her a break, and bring in Yastika who was consistent with her batting performances. I don’t think three left-handers in a row makes a difference in every match. But going forward yes, we are going to look at it tactically,” said Powar in the pre-match virtual press conference.

“It gives an advantage to opponents to set up the plan easily and left-right batter combination allows us to get to a batting rhythm. Bowling at a left-right combination is kind of difficult for bowlers also, going forward we will try and address this,” added Powar, a former India men’s spinner.