RCB Podcast Bold and Beyond – Smriti Mandhana on the need to curb "batting ego" in ODI cricket

Smriti Mandhana has been an absolute force in Indian women’s cricket and her presence across all formats of the game is not something that every cricketer can boast about. From T20Is to Tests, Mandhana has batted with equal flair and her composure has been highly praised by pundits and fans alike.

Talking to Mayanti Langer on the RCB Bold and Beyond podcast, the captain of the RCB team pointed out that it is mainly situational awareness that leads her to the greatness which the world stays witness to.

Mandhana said, “I think ODI cricket is all about situational awareness. Knowing when to curb your shots and when to play your shots, those two things are the most important things in One Day cricket, I would say. As a batter, sometimes you feel that you can hit every ball but if the team doesn’t require it, you don’t have to.”

Stating further, Mandhana said, “In T20 cricket, if the team requires, then you will have to play your shots. For One Day cricket, I believe that the phases of the game change so much that the first 10 overs you have to bat a certain way, in the next 25 overs, you rely on singles and doubles and then a boundary ball and then in the 15 overs you again do the acceleration. I think that’s one thing that I really had to change about myself.”

She continued, “In 2017, I was that kid who would simply smack when she would find anything in her slot. I didn’t care about anything but then the responsibility of the batting comes a little bit more on you and then you realize that, even if I want to hit that ball and the team doesn’t need to hit that ball, I need to take a single. In One Day cricket you always have something called the batting ego but it is something to not have. You have to always keep what the team requires more than what you actually require.”