Smriti Mandhana shares her experience of batting with Mithali Raj

India lead the 5 match T20I 2-0.

Raj - Mandhana added 106 run partnership in an Indian win. ( HT Media)

Smriti Mandhana added a 106 run partnership with Mithali Raj in the second T20I to take India through to victory.  Raj has played a key hand in both wins. The 18-year-old is over the moon to bat with the Indian legend in the women's game. She has reaped the rewards of batting alongside the former Indian skipper. 

She also shared her experience of batting with the veteran saying "Whatever chance we got we utilized it. It was really important for both of us to continue .... it would've been much better if I had carried my bat through but it was really important for us both to finish off the game because for a new batter to come in and score at a rate of 6.50 would've been really hard. Credit to Mithali di the way she batted and finished off the game, something to learn from. Looking forward to play again with her," Mandhana said in a post-match chat. 

"I enjoy a lot batting with Mithali di. Batting with her, everyone will concentrate on her so I can get my runs easily. She gives her inputs while batting and they're really important. She will just calm you down, [saying] that 'runs have come, don't go for that'. Those conversations are really important. And coming from someone like Mithali di, you tend to respond to that and play accordingly. Playing with her has been a very good learning experience for me, and I would like to learn a lot more from her," Mandhana further went to add. 

At the other end in the South African dressing room, there's very little for the players to be upbeat about. After having squandered the ODI series, they've been quickly pushed onto the backfoot in the T20Is, where each of the last three fixtures will 'feel like a final', according to South Africa head coach Hilton Moreeng.

 
 

By Anshuman Roy - 17 Feb, 2018

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