Mandhana’s belief remains strong after Australia challenge
India’s star batter Smriti Mandhana clarified that there is no added pressure on her going into the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025.
Hosts India had a vehement challenge in the form of Australia ahead of the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025. While Australia took the first ODI comprehensively, India fought back to tie the series. In a high-scoring decider, India gave Australia a scare before eventually faltering by 43 runs.
For the Women in Blue, the star performer was Player of the Series Smriti Mandhana for her 300 runs in the three games. She won praise from even opponents for her record ton during the third ODI - which was the second-fastest ever in women’s ODIs.
She almost single-handedly led India’s chase, with the side going at over 10 runs an over while she was at the crease. But her dismissal in the 22nd over, put paid to the hosts' chances.
However, speaking to reporters after the game, India’s batting talisman was insistent on the fact that the side wasn’t overdependent on her batting for success, and backed her teammates ahead of the World Cup.
“Everyone is a match-winner. Not just the XI but all the fifteen who are in the squad are match-winners. And I don’t look at anyone that they are adding any kind of pressure on me or anyone for that matter.”
Mandhana backed her team’s batting despite the adverse result, stating that they had improved considerably in recent times.
“I’ve huge belief in my team. At any point, we can still win the match, and any player can take us to the win. And that can never change with one or two results, and over the last 12 months, we’ve got 300-plus even when I’ve got out, so that doesn’t really say anything about the batting reliance on anyone.
“Pratika, Harleen, Harman, Jemimah they’ve all got hundreds.”
Harmanpreet Kaur (52 off 35), and Deepti Sharma (72 off 58) almost reinforced Mandhana’s point with their attacking fifties, but eventually the target proved to be too much.
But the Indian team’s self-confidence was on display in how they went about the chase.
Mandhana stated that the team was quite positive even after Australia’s batters had taken to an attacking start.
“The conversation in between as well was positive. When the drinks break came, we all knew that the wicket was flat. We kept telling each other, that don’t worry, we've also got bats and we’ve also come [to play].”
Mandhana rued a couple of untimely dismissals during India’s chase, but nevertheless remained proud of their effort.
“[We told the bowlers] just bowl your best balls and try and restrict them, and we’ll also try and get those runs. Even in mid-break, we only spoke about how we really want to get this target. That will show the character of the team..
“Some things like me getting out on a full toss, or Richa’s run out didn’t go in our way. But I’m really proud of the way we performed. In the whole series, we showed a lot of character.”
When asked on the impact of this series on the World Cup, Mandhana stated that India looked at their fielding as an area to address.
“This series for us was about getting a lot of right combinations. Also Australia is a great opposition to test ourselves and see where we are lacking. It was a good series to understand our strengths and to figure out where we are lacking.
“For sure, there’s a lot of difference in the fielding. As a team, we are on the rise, but there are days where we look like a different fielding side and other days where we don’t. We need to find consistency in how we go about fielding together, not individual brilliance. That’s one thing we’ve to address before the World Cup.”
India will begin their Women’s Cricket World Cup campaign in the tournament opener against co-hosts Sri Lanka in Guwahati.