Smriti Mandhana, who has been the highest run-getter for India this season in the limited overs cricket, is currently working on the mental aspect with Head Coach Tushar Arothe in a bid to finish the season on a high, as well as, give extensively support to her team in the T20I series decider against England.
Ahead of series decider on Thursday (12 April) at Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur, the star Indian opener is eyeing to play a long innings for the hosts.
She also disappointed with his show in the second game, where he made 42 against England, saying “double digits is not a score to get out on” ruing losing concentration.
As per reports in The Hindu, Smriti said, “I have been working on the mental aspect with Tushar sir (head coach Tushar Arothe). I keep talking to him about how to avoid lapse of concentration. It’s the basic stuff that I am trying to revert to. For instance, taking a fresh leg-guard after every drinks interval or reaching the fifty.”
The stylish left-hander further explained, “He (Aorthe) has also been advising on taking some time off and tapping the pitch in case I start feeling that I have started losing concentration a bit. It’s working for me in the 50-over format. In T20s, you can’t really take so much time for yourself but here you can take some time.”
She further stressed on the need of putting collective batting effort on the board, saying minimum three batters “should click together” to win the final T20I after leveling the three-match series 1-1 against England by winning the second T20I by 8-wickets in Nagpur.
The 22-year-old went to explain the same, “Two or three players should click together when batting. Especially on this wicket, it’s important for someone who has managed to play 25-odd balls to go on and play a long inning because any new batter will find it hard to get going on such turning tracks. You can’t really convert a good ball into a scoring shot on such a pitch. So you have to wait for the loose ball and capitalize on it.”
Smriti signed off by saying, “In the first match, I got the team close but in the last game, I was disappointed because 42 is not a score to get out on. Once you get into double digits, you have to make it count by scoring an 80 or a 100.”
