ICC Women World T20 2018: I Want to Give My Best Against Pakistan - Smriti Mandhana

India’s women team southpaw opener Smriti Mandhana said she wants to give her best in the second match against Pakistan. India will take on arch-rivals Pakistan in their second group match. Smriti Mandhana was not able to deliver the goods in the first match against New Zealand as she could only score two runs as both openers flopped with the bat.

Therefore, the left-hander is looking to turn the tables in the second match against their biggest nemesis. India and Pakistan had also locked horns in ICC Women World Cup last year, and India had gone on to win that match. Thus, the Women in Blue will look to repeat their performance in the shortest format of the game.

Mandhana said she doesn’t want to put any extra pressure on her and looks to come good in the all-important match. India had a perfect start to their World T20 campaign as they won by 34 runs against New Zealand. On the other hand, Pakistan lost their opener against Australia.

Mandhana will aim to give a good start to India.

“I want to give my 100 percent in every match, that’s the only aim I have. Because if I think about expectations, I won’t be able to perform, which I didn’t do in the last match. So it’s better for me not to put pressure on myself and just enjoy the game,” she said ahead of the second match in Guyana.

Meanwhile, Smriti Mandhana has been a consistent performer for the Indian team. She has done well in the limited overs format and would look to continue the same in the ongoing mega event.

“From every win, we have to take our points out. The Powerplay – I don’t think we got the kind of start we expect our batters to give,” she said. “Personally, I didn’t bat the way I do.

“From the bowlers’ point of view, we could have restricted them below 150 (New Zealand scored 160/9 in reply to India’s 194/5) – that would have been great for us. Those are the things we’ll be working on in our next game.”

Smriti Mandhana said they have done their homework for the Pakistan team. Pakistan is at rank seven whereas India is at fifth place in ICC T20I rankings.

“We have done our research on the Pakistan team, but there’s no single player, we have done research on all 15 players. So the way we played yesterday (against New Zealand), we’d like to put up the same show tomorrow,” said Mandhana.

Smriti Mandhana has scored 870 runs in 46 innings in her T20I career. She will like to bring her best against Pakistan in the second match for India in ongoing ICC Women World T20. The match will begin from 8:30 PM IST.