India, Sept. 28 -- As India women fine-tune their preparations for the ODI World Cup starting on Tuesday, the batting and bowling depth may draw optimism but fielding and catching remain weaknesses that risk undermining their campaign in crunch matches.

During the recent three-match ODI series loss to Australia at home, skipper Harmanpreet Kaur mentioned at least twice that missed chances cost the team. India lost the series 1-2. Smriti Mandhana too acknowledged that fielding was an area where the players needed to put in more effort before India begin their campaign. The co-hosts face Sri Lanka in their first match at Guwahati on Tuesday.

"Australia is a great opposition to test ourselves," Mandhana said. "It was a good series in terms...