“The good thing for Smriti is that she is in good form and when you are in good form, you can tackle any challenge.” Former Indian all-rounder Reema Malhotra is optimistic about the Indian vice-captain Smriti Mandhana continuing her good form going into the Asia Cup
The Indian women’s team led by skipper Harmanpreet Kaur recently hosted South Africa led by skipper Laura Wolvaardt for an all-format series that included a three-match ODI series followed by a one-off Test match and then a three-match T20I series.
India whitewashed South Africa (3-0) in the ODI series, they also dominated in the red-ball format. They completed a hard-fought 10-wicket victory in the one-off Test match. The three-match T20I series (1-1) was shared between both the teams as the 2nd T20I was washed out due to rain.
The Indian vice-captain Smriti Mandhana was the stand-out performer with the bat for the women in blue across all three formats in the recently concluded series against South Africa. She is in the middle of a dream run with the bat with the bat at the International level. She has mind-blowing returns (117, 136, 90, 149, 46, and 54) with the bat in the series against South Africa. She had an exceptional average of 114.33 en route to her 343 runs tally in three innings in the ODI format.
“The way she started, it wasn’t that easy in the first ODI. She took her time even to get off the mark. She used to score good 30s and 40s and then lose her wicket. However, here she had clarity and intent. She showed patience. She didn’t get satisfied with just one hundred.” Veda Krishnamurthy praises the way Smriti Mandhana battled the conditions and approached her innings, continuing her hunger for scoring big runs for her side.
Apart from her exploits with the bat, she also picked up her maiden International wicket in the ODI format in the 2nd ODI when she picked up the wicket of former South African skipper Sune Luus. In the T20I format, she scored 100 runs in a couple of innings. She was also the 2nd highest run-scorer of the T20I series. She was also awarded the ICC Women’s Player of the Month for June 2024, edging the likes of Maia Bouchier from England and Vishmi Gunaratne from Sri Lanka. It is also the first instance when Smriti Mandhana won the Player of the Month award.
“You make plans to beat the best team and to perform well against the best player, and the way Smriti is batting, she is the cause of headache for all opposition. However, there will be a challenge for Smriti as well because the bowlers won’t give that much pace there. The good thing for Smriti is that she is in good form and when you are in good form, you can tackle any challenge.” The former Indian all-rounder Reema Malhotra is optimistic about Smriti Mandhana continuing her dream run with the bat going into the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka,, later this month.
The Women in Blue will now travel to Sri Lanka to participate in the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) Women’s Asia Cup. The tournament will be played in the T20I format, and all the matches will be played in Dambulla. The tournament will commence on 19th July 2024 and will conclude on 28th July 2024. India will kick-start their campaign in the Asia Cup on 19th July 2024, against the arch-rivals Pakistan in Dambulla from 7 PM IST.
(Quotes sourced from Sportskeeda)