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Smriti Mandhana will have to take extra responsibilities on her shoulders when the Indian Women's team walks into the Lord's on Sunday to face the mighty Australia Women's cricket team in a must-win match in the group stage of the ongoing ICC Women's T20 World Cup.
Ahead of the match day, Smriti Mandhana revealed that she gained a lot of wisdom and clarity about the game by discussing with the cricket legends like the former Australian skipper Kumar Sangakkara and former Australia opener Matthew Hayden.
Smriti Mandhana needs to rediscover his form
The Indian opener acknowledged that by talking with the greats of the game, she felt extra motivation. The Indian women's cricket team started off their 2026 T20 World Cup campaign in a promising way, defeating arch-rival Pakistan in their first match of the tournament.
In two back-to-back fixtures, Smriti Madhana took a crucial role with the bat. There was a dip in form when the Women in Blue faced South Africa Women's and Bangladesh Women's in the previous two fixtures.
While the left-handed opener registered half-centuries in two consecutive matches, against Pakistan and the Netherlands, against South Africa and Bangladesh, she was dismissed quickly.
On Sunday, Australia will start the match as the favorite over India. To make the strides into the semifinals of the title race, India needs to win the contest at any cost. Ahead of the tournament, the Harmanpreet Kaur-led team defeated the Aussies by 2-1 in a three-match T20I series.
The words of wisdom will motivate Smriti Mandhana against Australia
India's performance will be heavily dependent on Smriti Mandhana's performance in the must-win match tomorrow, on June 28. Ahead of the game, the star batter of the Women's national cricket team sounded confident and looked very focused, which could be the silence before a storm.
“I have looked up to Sangakkara, sir, and Matthew Hayden quite a lot. I remember even in my bad days, I would watch their videos. So, when I saw him (Hayden) doing the commentary, I got really excited,” Smriti Mandhana said in the pre-match press conference.
"We had a good discussion, and I wanted to know a few things about the grip, etc. I also told him that chatting before an Australian game, I don't know if you would like to do that, but he was really kind and sweet. He shared a lot of things, which I hope I can apply to my batting,” she added.
Australia will start as the favorite to defeat India on Sunday
It is worth noting that from each group, the top two teams will be qualified for the semifinals. As of now, in group A, Australia, India, and South Africa are strongly in contention to confirm a couple of berths in the semis.
The Australian cricket team is the only undefeated team in the group stage, as they have won all four of their four previous games in the contest. With 8 points, they are top of the points table, on the verge of making their way into the next stage.
