‘Shafali and I have a huge role to play forward’: Smriti eyes stronger starts as India turn focus to T20 WC

Taunton, June 3 (SocialNews.XYZ) India vice-captain Smriti Mandhana believes she and her opening partner Shafali Verma must shoulder greater responsibility at the top of the order as the team shifts its attention to the T20 World Cup after a hard-fought series defeat against England.

India began the three-match T20I series with an impressive victory but were unable to sustain the momentum, suffering consecutive defeats to hand the hosts a 2-1 series win. While disappointed with the outcome, Mandhana viewed the tour as a valuable exercise ahead of the global tournament that will also be played in English conditions.

"Coming in early and playing a series in England, where we’ve a World Cup to play, in terms of preparations, it’s extremely good to do that. But thinking back, both me and Shafali (Varma) have a huge role to play forward," Smriti said after the third T20I.

The opening pair endured an inconsistent series, managing a combined 75 runs across three matches despite showing glimpses of fluency at the crease. Mandhana, however, insisted that neither she nor Shafali was far away from making meaningful contributions.

“We both are timing the ball well but unfortunately are not able to contribute in big ways for the team. But again for both of us, we’ll go back in the nets and keep working hard and make sure that we come back better as an opening pair because both of us pride ourselves on giving good starts and keeping the momentum going. We’ll take it in our stride and work hard,” she added.

India appeared on course to level the series in the deciding contest after reducing England to 38/3 during the chase. However, a game-changing partnership between Heather Knight and Alice Capsey turned the match decisively in the hosts' favour as they chased down 181 with nine deliveries remaining.

Reflecting on the defeat, Mandhana pointed to the unpredictability of T20 cricket and acknowledged England's recovery, as she said, "In T20 games momentum keeps shifting. We started really well with the ball, putting them at 35/3 (38/3), but then I wouldn’t take anything away from the partnership they had. I think they played really good cricketing shots, they played all around the ground.”

The loss also provided India with important insights regarding their bowling plans in conditions they are likely to encounter again during the World Cup.

“On bowling, we’ll go to the drawing board, and see which options are better. We did that before this series, maybe we can go back again. Now I think I know in these conditions what balls are to be bowled,” the opener noted.

One of India's biggest positives from the final T20I was captain Harmanpreet Kaur's unbeaten half-century. Walking in after early setbacks, the skipper steadied the innings and guided India to a competitive 180 with a composed 56 not out.

Mandhana was effusive in her praise for the veteran batter's contribution, stating, “Harman when she’s at her best, it’s a sight to watch. Really important innings under pressure, especially when we needed that sort of knock to get us to 180-plus.”

Beyond Harmanpreet's knock, Mandhana took encouragement from the form displayed by several members of India's batting unit ahead of the marquee tournament.

“Really happy but I just feel that everyone is in a good nick, and it’s a good sign going into the T20 World Cup that Jemi (Rodrigues), Harman everyone are really looking beautiful to watch from the outside. Hopefully, I can watch them from the inside as well,” she mentioned.

India's campaign will begin with a blockbuster clash against Pakistan in Birmingham on June 14, a fixture that is expected to attract significant attention. Mandhana believes the tournament represents another major opportunity to showcase the growing popularity of women's cricket.

“We did play Pakistan in Birmingham, and it was a sell-out. Not just India-Pakistan, we really need to hype up the T20 World Cup. In fact, it’s already hyped up. I’m sure a lot of people will come and watch us play. Hopefully we can put up a good show for them,” Smriti concluded.

Source: IANS