Smriti Mandhana reveals her train of thought during the match-winning knock against Australia in the second T20I

India women recorded a staggering victory against the inexorable Australian unit that was handed their first defeat of the calendar year 2022 in a T20I. It was a phenomenal chase, to say the least with Smriti Mandhana leading the charge while Richa Ghosh chimed in with a crucial blitz at the tail-end of the innings to help India restore parity in the 5-match T20I series.

Following India’s victory, Smriti Mandhana jokingly said, “What other option do we have but to go bang-bang in a 185-run chase?”. However, if there was another player who deserved a special pat on her back, it was the Indian U-19 captain for the upcoming Youth Women’s World Cup, Shafali Verma.

Verma paired perfectly with Mandhana and played some important strokes that helped Team India build a perfect partnership, riding on which the Women in Blue managed to tie the affair in the regulation 20 overs while prising out a stunning win in the Super Over, thanks to another important display from the Indian vice-captain.

Talking about Shafali Verma’s calculated approach, Mandhana said, “We have days when she's batting well, and I give her singles. There are days when it happens the other way around as well. Today we actually didn't go bang-bang. We were a little calculative. Good on her as well. Whenever she hit a six, she looked to take a single as well. This was the most mature powerplay we've had. Going bang-bang is very easy. But chasing down such a total with having a calculative approach in the powerplay, and not losing out on wickets, is something (good)."

Smriti also talked about the stunning Super Over, adding, “We hadn't imagined that we will have a super over tonight, and in the Super Over - with the likes of Richa and Shafali - I would go out to bat. I am a believer in visualization, but I hadn't (thought about this).”

She further added, “I was pretty blank. Had nothing (in my mind). When I hit the first six, I was very excited and pumped up. I'm not the kind of person people can understand from the outside what's going on in my head. But when I hit the first six, I was like 'wow', it was massive. After that when she (Richa Ghosh) got out, me and Harman decided that we will try to hit boundaries and not a six. If we would've gotten out, it would've been over. We had to try and hit boundaries. The six I did hit, I was trying to hit a boundary. I was really, really blank.”

She concluded by saying, “I would have loved to visualize something like this, but I hadn't. But now this has happened, I will start visualizing if something comes up.” 

The Indian women have a busy schedule coming up as they will be up against Australia for the remainder of the series which will be followed by a tri-series against West Indies and South Africa, just ahead of the T20 World Cup.