Smriti Mandhana has been on song after her return to cricket following an injury. After scoring 90 against England Women in India Women’s first match of the ICC Women’s World Cup, 2017 she carried her team to victory against West Indies Women with an unbeaten century.
Mandhana, who has continued to impress with her effortless batting claimed her second consecutive Player of the Match award as she became the youngest Indian to score a century in the Women’s World Cup at the age of 20 years.
While speaking about her return to competitive cricket after sustaining and ACL injury in the Women’s Big Bash League, Mandhana said that she has been working hard for over four months and she is getting better each day and should be completely okay in about 10 days.
Asked how she had prepared for English conditions, Mandhana was quoted as saying, “In the last one and a half months, I was preparing for the English conditions using a plastic ball with my coach. We reached here early and that is the reason I got time to get used to the conditions.”
The stylish left-hand bat plays the pull and the hook shots with panache. Elaborating on her shots while discussing her 106-run knock, she said, “It (the pull and hook shot) was there from the Under-19 days, but I tried to play it down today (against the WI) because they had a field set for that. I knew they would attack me there so I practiced for (countering) that in the last practice session.”
Asked about her hunger for runs, she said, “I think I have done this mistake earlier in my career that I used to get casual after my fifty and throw my wicket, but last four and a half months have been really tough and I have been working really hard to get fit for this World Cup so that is what I keep saying (telling myself) that I haven’t worked hard for just fifty, I have to keep playing and see the team through. So that’s what I keep saying to myself that I haven’t done so much of work to just play for fifty runs.”
While Mandhana anchored the team to victory she was ably supported by captain Mithali Raj who came in with the India on 33 for two. The pair added 108 runs for the third wicket to take the game away completely from the WI. Speaking about the calming influence of the experienced campaigner, the opener said, “When she came into bat, I felt really calm because (although) we had lost two big wickets she has always been that one person who will calm everyone down. It is because of her that we are very calm in the dressing room. We don’t get hyper or panic. She is a very cool and calm captain and she shows us the way to go ahead.”
Meanwhile, the Indian skipper praised the team’s performance. “We have won 18 of the last 19 games and I am very happy that the girls have been responding very well to these English conditions. The bowlers and the batters have done very well in this game.”
Elaborating on the preparations for the West Indies team and the performance of the batters, Mithali, who had herself been in good form said, “We had made plans for each of the West Indies players. We had video analysis being done before the match. Also, the way the batters have accustomed themselves to the English wickets is amazing. Earlier, when toured England we used to take two-three matches to get used to it but these girls have been very positive in their approach right from the first match.”
