Mandhana wants to take a leaf out of Mithali's book
Star batswoman Smriti Mandhana has heaped a lot of praise on veteran cricketer Mithali Raj. The Indian women's cricket team is currently involved in the T20I series at home against England. Mandhana, who is leading the side in the absence of Harmanpreet Kaur, wants to imbibe the qualities of Mithali in her game. Notably, India lost the first T20I against England.
Mandhana has become India's most dependable force
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 suffered a rare failure in the first T20I as India lost the match. The team will be looking up to her once again.
She is calm and relaxed: Mandhana on Mithali
"She (Mithali) has been consistent, despite being in that headspace - that is a big task. She is calm and relaxed even if there are, say, two or three dot balls. I used to get a bit panicky earlier, but she has always been calm."
Mithali Raj has been a long servant of India
On the other hand, Mithali has been an inspirational leader since 2000s. The ODI skipper has always led from the front. Mithali has featured in 203 ODI matches since her debut in 1999, besides 87 T20Is. She has been serving Indian cricket team for close to 20 years now. And her statistics with the bat are pretty remarkable.
Mithali has been a consistent performer
In 203 ODIs, Mithali has notched 6,720 runs with a best score of 125*. She averages 51.29 and has amassed seven hundreds and 52 fifties. She has also bagged 2,314 T20I runs. And Mandhana lauded Mithali for her qualities.
Mithali thrived under pressure, says Mandhana
Mandhana said, "The sense of responsibility she has shown over these years. There was a phase of ten years when Indian batting used to depend on her. She never cribbed about it, and took on that pressure- that's one thing I would like to have."
