Mandhana bats her way to limelight

Smriti Mandhana made her international debut five years ago, but she grabbed attention only during the ICC Women’s ODI World Cup in England last year. She scored 90 in the opener against the hosts and followed it up with an unbeaten 106 in the next game against West Indies. The 21-year-old Mumbai born left-hander struggled in the remainder of the tournament but she set up the momentum and India finished runners-up.

The vice-captain of the Indian T20I team has been far more consistent since the World Cup. She scored a hundred and a fifty during the ODI series in South Africa and contributed well in the T20Is as well. She followed it up with two half centuries during the three-match series against Australia in Baroda. 

The Maharashtra player got leadership role for the first-ever Twenty20 tri-series at Cricket Club of India and she responded with 208 runs in four matches, averaging almost 70 with a highest score of 76. Her tally of scores was only second best to England opener Danille Wyatt (213) who played a game more (in the final). 

Such has been Mandhana’s rise as a women’s cricketer since the World Cup that her name is featured on the Forbes 30 under 30 Asia 2018 list.

However, despite making a string of half-centuries since the World Cup, Mandhana wants to bat till the end and help her side win games. 

“I would have been pleased had I batted for 20 overs. We would have got a good total and would have eventually won the match. I think we are not learning from the mistakes that we made in the one-dayers. I got out after getting set. That’s something for me to work on,” she said after making the first half-century of the Tri-series.

“It is really hard for the person coming in to bat. Rather, it is easier for a set batter to play,” she added. 

India just managed a consolation win over England in the last league game after three losses and Mandhana made an unbeaten 62. Australia, led by Meg Lanning (88 not out), won the title after beating England in the final by 57 runs on Saturday. 

Mandhana played some amazing shots throughout the tournament. She can pull and glance with elegance, has an attractive cover drive and cut shot and finds gaps with ease. She can hit clinically and finished the tournament with a strike rate of over 165, only second best to Wyatt. 

She became the fastest Indian woman in Twenty20 to score a half century in just 25 balls bettering her previous best in 30 balls. She went on to score 76 off 40 deliveries, which helped India post their highest total of 198/4. However, it wasn’t enough as England chased down the total with eight balls to spare. Wyatt, who scored a 24-ball fifty went on to score 124. 

The southpaw first burst onto the scene at the early age of 17 when she scored a double century for West Zone in an Under-19 cricket tournament in Vadodara in 2013. She made her T20I and ODI debut same year. 

English skipper Heather Knight, who saw Mandhana making her Test debut for India in England in August 2014, praised the vastly improving left-handed batswoman. “She has played brilliantly. Bowling to her, it’s hard to set fields to where she hits it. She hits it cleanly. She’s quite a classical player. She has improved quite a lot since she made her debut against England, I was there. She has become more consistent. She can pick up the length very early and score big runs. She makes the margin for error very less for the bowlers,” Knight said.

The rule change with only four fiddlers allowed outside the fielding restriction area (30-yard circle) after powerplays has made batswomen like Mandhana fearless and they can play their shots freely.

“She (Mandhana) is in great form and she is a very good player and once she gets going, it is very difficult to stop (her). It is very important how we bowl to her early and try and make her take a few more risks,” Lanning said.