Mandhana ‘likes being given freedom’ – Harmanpreet Kaur
Kaur is the captain of the Indian Twenty20 International team and, along with Mandhana, one of the brightest batting sparks in the line-up across formats. Kaur is also the other big Indian export to T20 leagues like the WCSL and the Women’s Big Bash League.
Mandhana, turning out for the Heather Knight-led Western Storm at the latest WCSL, was easily the standout batter, getting to the top of the charts for all the major parameters in the group stage of the competition: most runs (421), highest score (102, the only century so far), best average (60.14), best strike rate (174.68) and most boundaries (45 fours and 21 sixes).
Her performances were a key reason for Storm qualifying for Finals Day (27 August) well before the end of the group stage, but, unfortunately, national duties have meant that Mandhana won’t be there to finish the tournament.
“Smriti is someone in the Indian side I discuss a lot of cricket with. When I met her in the UK, she said her team had given her the freedom to swing her bat. And it was clear she was enjoying herself,” Kaur, who turned out for Lancashire Thunder, told ESPNcricinfo.
“We both played in the WBBL and now the KSL, so that experience is there. We've come to know each other quite well that way, and the output of my discussions with Smriti has mostly been that she likes being given freedom.
“When you're playing for the country, there's a lot of pressure on you to deliver, game after game. You have to live up to the expectations that the tag of a 'match-winner' brings with it. But it works well for Smriti when she is assured of that freedom by the captain and the management.”
Kaur had an up-and-down time of it at the WCSL after a delayed arrival in England, hitting 34*, 74 and 44* in three games but also scoring two ducks and getting out in single digits twice. Thunder were eliminated in the group stage after finishing fourth among six teams.
One of those ducks for Kaur came in a game against Storm, and then she watched on as Mandhana slammed 102 in just 61 balls to take Storm to a seven-wicket victory. It was Mandhana’s first century in T20 cricket.
“That was one of the best innings I've seen her play,” said Kaur, no stranger to centuries herself, with the spectacular 115-ball 171* in the semi-final of the ICC Women’s World Cup 2017 against Australia ranking as arguably the greatest innings in women’s one-day international cricket to date.
Harmanpreet Kaur’s brilliant 171 not out
“She was looking very confident; you could see that in her strokeplay. That's what you need in a player: confidence and flow. And that comes, to a great extent, from that freedom.”
It’s a big year for women’s T20I cricket, with the ICC Women’s World T20 2018 coming up later in the year in the Caribbean, and Mandhana’s form augurs very well for the Indian team from that point of view too.
“She's performed immensely well in the KSL, touchwood. And I hope she's able to take that forward into the next series (in Sri Lanka in September) and then into the World T20,” said Kaur. “Whether it's Smriti or me or someone else in the team – a batter or a bowler – individual performances only count when they contribute to the team's victories.”
