‘Cannot Go into WC Under-Prepared’: Stand-in Skipper Mandhana Eyes T20 World Cup as Ultimate Aim

Team India Women's side has been dominating over their opponents as they continue their dominance in the Asia Cup tournament. The Harmanpreet Kaur-led side has remained undefeated as they won three consecutive matches in the ACC tournament and have sealed their place in the semifinal of the competition. Smriti Mandhana looked jubilant after the game as she stood in for the usual skipper for this match-up. Mandhana revealed that their ultimate aim is the upcoming T20 World Cup, and the Women in Blue are preparing for it with zeal and enthusiasm while also revealing that the team's preparation began after the 2024 Women's Premier League.

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Smriti Mandhana Aims for the Ultimate Prize After India-W Defeat Nepal at Women’s Asia Cup

At the post-match presentation after defeating the Nepal Women's side in Dambulla, the stand-in skipper stated that each competition in the past few months has been a stride towards preparing for the Women's T20 World Cup, which will be hosted in Bangladesh later this year.

“Not only this tournament but also in the last five or six months, the preparations started post-WPL, there is a lot of fine-tuning to be done, and we have to keep improving, cannot go into a World Cup under-prepared.

"You don’t take any team (semifinal opponents) lightly. We have two days to rest and practice before we go out and apply ourselves,” Smriti Mandhana said after the Asia Cup group stage match.

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India's convincing 82-run victory against Nepal in their last group match of the women's Asia Cup guaranteed them a position in the semifinals. On Tuesday, Smriti Mandhana captained the team instead of normal captain Harmanpreet Kaur, who was given a day off. Shafali Verma, the opener, hit 81 off 48 to lead India to 178 for 3. Dayalan Hemalatha, the other opener, shared 122 runs for the opening stand with 47 runs off 42 balls, laying the groundwork for the total. After that, India held Nepal to 96 for nine, with seasoned bowler Deepti Sharma leading the way with figures of 3/13.