Hopefully I can do justice to the role – Smriti Mandhana on her first challenge as India-W captain

Smriti Mandhana is all set to lead the Indian women’s cricket team as full-time captaincy for the first time ever since taking over from Harmanpreet Kaur, after the latter stepped down.

She will be leading India in their first-ever bilateral series against Zimbabwe, with the opening contest is slated to be played in Raipur.

Talking ahead of the first WT20I, Mandhana opened up on her new challenge. Speaking at the pre-match presser, Smriti explained how she will try her best to do justice to role of captain.

She also explained that she is no stranger to this role, having being vice-captain of the side for almost a decade now.

Mandhana said, “I have been the vice-captain for the last almost 10 years. So, I have been part of the leadership role, and I wouldn’t say it is an extremely new thing. But for sure, it is something to look forward to, and hopefully, I can do justice to the role.”

Adding further, Smriti said, “I have become a captain on the field; there should be no changes in my batting. My coach used to tell me when I was 15 years old, ‘Whenever you bat, always think you are the captain. You always take that responsibility, and those things have never changed. If the ball is in the zone, I will still go for it. I will still play whatever (way) the team needs (me to).”

Highlighting the series as an exciting opportunity, Mandhana stated, “The first bilateral (series) with Zimbabwe, I think, is very exciting. It is our first time playing with them. Sometimes, playing with Zimbabwe and all the Associate nations, it feels like you can learn a lot from them as well because they enjoy playing their cricket.”

Mandhana concluded by talking about how the upcoming matches for the Indian team will be a dress rehearsal for the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy, adding, “Sometimes, we get into a lot of things professionally. You can learn a lot from them. But again, we have six T20 matches before the Champions Trophy as an Indian team, so we will look to set standards as an Indian team (as to) how we approach the next three months leading up to the Champions Trophy.”