Smriti Mandhana reveals no fixed No.3, claims India are better than recent T20 WC performances

India Women's National Cricket Team vice-captain Smriti Mandhana talked about the team's campaign so far in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024. She admitted that they haven't played a good brand of cricket and claimed that they are a lot better than how they have played in the tournament.

India Women's National Cricket Team are having a shaky campaign so far in the ongoing Women's T20 World Cup 2024. They had a bizarre start to the tournament as they were thrashed by the New Zealand Women's National Cricket Team in their first game at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium in Dubai.

India Women's National Cricket Team were blown away by the Kiwis as they lost the game by a margin of 58 runs. They got all out for 102 runs in the chase of 160 runs. However, after that, they made a comeback as they thumped the Pakistan Women's National Cricket Team to get their campaign back on track.

But the game against Pakistan didn't go the way I wanted. They struggled with them yet again but managed to win the game by 6 wickets. They now need to win their remaining games with a big margin if they have to fancy their chances of qualifying for the semi-final of the tournament.

Smriti Mandhana, who failed in the two games, was asked to give clarity about who will bat at No.3 for the team. But she mentioned that conditions are very different from what they expected and hence it will be dependant on the conditions and match situation about who will bat at 3. Speaking to reporters, she explained:

"The wicket condition and ground conditions are a lot different to what we thought when we came here. It just depends on the match situation, who we are playing, how the wicket is playing, and what score we are chasing as well. I think that also is a big consideration. I wouldn't say that it was all planned."

"Except for the New Zealand match, we haven't seen any team go over 140 in the whole tournament - 135-140 - be it a day game or a night game. It says a lot about the conditions. I wouldn't say it changes massively in terms of the wicket or the conditions, the outfield especially. Yes, the heat is a lot more." said Smriti Mandhana.

Ahead of the tournament, head coach Amol Muzumdar confirmed that Harmanpreet Kaur will be batting at 3. Skipper came out to bat at that position in the first game but it was Jemimah Rodrigues who batted at 3 against Pakistan.

We won't shy away from taking that responsibility - Smriti Mandhana

Smriti Mandhana admitted that the first game against New Zealand didn't go their way, but they won't shy away from taking the responsibility. She said that they had a bad day as they did everything but couldn't get over the line. She added:

"I'm sure the first match didn't go the way we planned. But, having said that, we won't shy away from taking that responsibility that we did not step up to play good cricket on that particular day,"

"As a batting order, as a bowling unit, I think we couldn't do it. We had that one-off bad day where sometimes you just come and want to do everything but you're not able to get over the line.

I'm sure we are still better than what we have been playing - Smriti Mandhana

Smriti Mandhana admitted that they haven't played their best cricket in the first two games but they have confidence in them. She added that in UAE conditions, they need to play smart cricket. She added:

"But yeah, I think the brand of cricket which we want to play, I would say that in the first match, we could not do that. Even in the second match, I wouldn't say we played 100% of our cricket. I'm sure we are still better than what we have been playing.

"In these conditions, you have to understand your cricket very well, be very smart, and know what shots to play and which shots to play. So I don't see any difference in Asian teams and other teams," Smriti Mandhana concluded.