There’s still time for the Women’s T20 World Cup, which begins in September in Bangladesh. But it’s safe to assume that Smriti Mandhana, who led the Royal Challengers Bangalore to their maiden Women’s Premier League triumph, will play a bigger role in the national team’s leadership group in the World Cup.
Being deputy to Harmanpreet Kaur, Mandhana, in any case, has a leadership role assigned to her. But following this WPL crown, where her captaincy stood out alongside her batting, Mandhana’s tactical inputs will surely hold greater significance in the showpiece event this September-October.
“Of course, that will be of good help for Harmanpreet, while (head coach) Amol Muzumdar also has to take good care of things (in the T20 Cup). The calmness and quietness with which Smriti handled everything in this WPL should be a fine assist to the skipper,” agreed former India Women’s captain Diana Edulji.
“Besides that, Smriti’s decision to go back to domestic cricket and play a few matches there (last season) also paid dividends for her,” Edulji added.
In Mandhana’s own words, self-belief played a key role in effecting a turnaround of RCB’s fortunes this year, which she said at the news conference after her side thrashed Delhi Capitals by eight wickets in the final in New Delhi on Sunday.
But what stood out was her ability to influence her bowlers and make the right calls.
“In the final, she made all her bowlers target the stumps and not bowl outside the off-stump. That ploy worked very well. A captain should be able to influence his/her bowlers into doing a particular thing if the team needs it.
“Smriti did it quite well right through this WPL. In fact, she has been a good leader ever since she had been leading Maharashtra,” former national selector Mithu Mukherjee explained.
Her bowling changes and giving chances to almost all the players, ensuring they don’t keep warming the benches throughout the WPL, have also been among the features of Mandhana’s captaincy.
“Giving that final over to (leg-spinner) Asha Sobhana in the Eliminator (against Mumbai Indians) was a smart move. Conditions and situation-wise, Smriti did the right thing and that worked as RCB won the game by five runs,” Mukherjee stated.
“And by giving chances to all of your players, you are creating a pool of options which will benefit you in the long run.”
However, according to Edulji, there are areas where Mandhana needs to improve as well. “When there is a left-arm spinner bowling, she needs to position someone at deep square leg. Field placement-wise, she needs to make these improvements. In terms of her batting, she needs to remain upright when stepping down the track. Her knees are getting bent somewhat, which she needs to avoid,” Edulji observed.