Smriti Mandhana talks about her first captaincy assignment
Star batswoman Smriti Mandhana is set to lead India in the T20I series against England at home. With regular captain Harmanpreet Kaur out due to an injury, Mandhana will get a chance to show her leadership skills. Indian eves takes on England in the first T20I on Monday in Guwahati. Here's what Mandhana said about her first captaincy assignment.
Mandhana has a challenging task on her plate
The Indian women's cricket team won the ODI series by a 2-1 margin, but there were many holes in their performance. Mandhana has a challenging task on her plate. The three-match T20Is is her first assignment as skipper. England beat India in the semi-final of the Women's World T20 last year. The Indian team also lost to New Zealand away recently in the T20Is.
T20I series: Mandhana on role as skipper
Mandhana opened up on the role as skipper. "I think the preparation won't change much, I have been vice-captain for two years and I have been attending all team meetings. I knew already what we will do before the match when I was not the captain. It is just I will need to make extra effort to speak with the bowlers," said Mandhana.
WATCH: Mandhana on captaincy and batting
'I think the players need to take more responsibility'
"We are aware of the things we lacked in New Zealand tour, our batting order would look to be in good shape for the World Cup next year. I think the players need to take more responsibility to post good scores on the board".
Mandhana has been in superb form
Mandhana has been India's best player since quite a while in both ODIs and T20Is. She got scores of 24, 63 and 66 in the ODIs against England. Prior to that, she batted valiantly in the T20Is against the Kiwis. Mandhana scored 58, 36 and 86 in the three-match series. India will look up to the aggression of the opening batswoman against England.
