Last week Smriti Mandhana Based on the glory of a Test match century against Australia at the Gold Coast venue of the Carrara Oval. Not really in good shape by his own high standards since resuming cricket activities against South Africa in Lucknow last March, the left-hander gave a glimpse of an aggressive brand of cricket in a Test match, Who was going to place exact demands on India. The openers are facing the pink ball, especially under lights. In these difficult circumstances, Mandhana passed the exam with flying colors.
She made her Test debut seven years ago against England, when she was just 18, and in the beautiful countryside of Wormsley. She made a good impact by scoring 22 and 51 against the England attack, with Anya Shrubsole, Kate Cross, Sonia Odedra, Jenny Gunn, Natalie Sciver, all medium pacers. India won that Test by six wickets and Mandhana took away happy memories from that match.
India Women vs Australia Women: I was lucky with that no ball on 80, says Smriti Mandhana
Two months after his first Test, he scored eight runs in the home Test against South Africa at Mysore. India won the match and so she went on to her third Test against England in Bristol seven years later, having experienced no defeat in the multi-day format. She – like most female cricketers – spent most of her time between 2014 and 2021 showcasing her batting skills in white-ball cricket.
The Sangli-born batsman had scored 78 in the first innings at Bristol and 127 in the first innings at Gold Coast five months ago, which was considered better in home conditions. Both were excellent efforts, but from now on the 25-year-old will only get odd Test matches in the future.
Full members of the ICC will have to go all out to arrange bilateral Test series for their women cricketers, otherwise it will be part of a package that will emphasize white-ball cricket with an odd Test. But the likes of Mandhana have demonstrated that Test cricket can generate a lot of interest among women, whether they are able to keep the momentum and lead the game with exciting batting and bowling feats.
Smriti Mandhana praises Poonam Raut: ‘She has earned a lot of respect from us’
The recent Test was all about Mandhana’s brilliant stroke play that stunned even the smartest of the Australian team. His hard work became even more remarkable as he did not play the match with the pink ball. Of course he has benefited a lot from various coaches like Poornima Rao, Tushar Arothe, WV Raman and Ramesh Powar.
Speaking to News18.com from Baroda, Arothe, who coached the Indian team during the 2017 ICC World Cup India lost to England in the final, said: “Smriti is a very positive player. She is tough. No doubt about it. She reads the pitch and bowls well. She has improved shot selection. She prepares well before the match.”
Though Mandhana had good luck; When on 80, she was caught on point, but a no-ball signal by the umpire’s bowler Ellyse Perry allowed her to go ahead and add 47 more runs. He thanked his luck and expressed the need to count the chances. It also rated 127 out of the top three best attempts.
While her maiden Test century, she is only the ninth Indian female cricketer to do so after Sandhya Agarwal, Shantha Rangaswamy, Shubhangi Kulkarni, Mithali Raj, Hemlata Kala, Anju Jain, Poonam Raut and Thirush Kamini. To deliver in the 50-over World Cup to be held in New Zealand next year.
The last World Cup in England was like a curated egg for him; He made a blistering 90 against England and 106 not out against West Indies. Thereafter, she troubled the scorers hard, falling for cheap scores in seven matches (36 runs), including a nil in the final.
His performance in the four T20 World Cups has been weak, just 298 runs in 17 innings for a poor average of 1862. They must be eager to make everything right in New Zealand.
Former Mumbai opener and game watcher Shishir Hattangadi says he will go to a match to see Smriti’s bat.
“For once she’s a left-hander. I’ll go see a left-hander. I don’t think she bores herself as a batsman. That’s usually what happens when you’re a batsman. As you bore yourself, you block people coming through the turnstiles from seeing you. When you see someone like Prithvi Shaw you know he will probably fail seven times out of ten. But you Go through the turnstiles because you know they are expected to have an entertaining innings.”
Further, talking about Mandhana’s playing style, Hattangadi explained: “Her is like an Aamir Khan film, you know what to expect. You’d expect something different. Smriti is a lot like this.” , because you are going to get something different. She is not going to do anything different in her character. She will always charm you as a spectator. She is the type of player who expects you to see a gem as an audience And memory is capable of a gem. What is needed for that is continuity, but not at the cost of losing one’s nature.
‘She reminds me a lot of Salim Durani. Yes, because of the way she plays, she is always susceptible to taking chances. His risk percentage is always going to be high. That’s the beauty of stroke players and people playing shots around the wicket. Especially the class of the wicket. They always make you feel attractive when you are in the middle. And also the feeling of being soft and casual when they step out. Smriti has to be aware of continuity, but not at the cost of losing one’s talent, as I said.”
Mandhana has won praise for making the most of the pink ball in the day-night Test. But a big test awaits him in New Zealand.
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