Smriti Mandhana confident about Team India's chances against 'competitive' Australia

Smriti Mandhana is optimistic about her team's chances in Australia later this month, believing that her teammates have improved significantly and can turn the tables this time when they meet Meg Lanning's No. 1 side. In an interview with The Scoop podcast, Mandhana stated that her team has "improved immensely" since their last visit to Australia and that beating the host team is a distinct possibility. The last time India met Australia in Australia, it was a humiliating defeat that cost the Women in Blue the T20 World Cup. After the T20 World Cup failure in Australia, Mandhana said the COVID-19 pandemic provided a welcome break, allowing the girls to reflect and understand what had happened.

Mandhana stated that the entire team has put in a lot of effort to improve their skills and fitness. The 25-year-old said India enjoys playing against Australia because they are one of the top teams in the world and are quite competitive. Mandhana noted that they get a little more hyped when they play against the Aussies because of their competitiveness. She herself may prove to be the key for Team India given that she remains the only Indian woman to score a century down under. She also holds the record for the highest T20I score by an Indian woman cricketer. 

"The team has grown massively. COVID was a big break after the T20 World Cup and a lot of girls had a chance to go back and understand more about their games, where they lack as an individual and come back stronger. The whole team has worked on their fitness and skills … we are still getting into a rhythm of playing matches continuously but the last five, six months we have been playing cricket and now we are getting back into the match mindset," Mandhana was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au. 

Australia and India are scheduled to play a three-match ODI series followed by a one-off Test and three T20Is, starting September 21. The ODI series is planned to be held at Great Barrier Reef Arena in Mackay, while the Test and T20I series are slated to take place at Metricon Stadium, Gold Coast. The one-off Test match is expected to take place between September 30 and October 3. India has won just one series in Australia so far, which came in a three-match T20I series early in 2016. India has never won a Test match in the country, a record they would like to alter this time around. 

India vs Australia: Squads' list 

Australia squad: Meg Lanning (c), Rachael Haynes (vc), Darcie Brown, Maitlan Brown, Stella Campbell, Nicola Carey, Hannah Darlington, Ashleigh Gardner, Alyssa Healy, Tahlia McGrath, Sophie Molineux, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Georgia Redmayne, Molly Strano, Annabel Sutherland, Tayla Vlaeminck, Georgia Wareham

India Test and ODI squad: Mithali Raj (c), Harmanpreet Kaur (vc), Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Punam Raut, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Sneh Rana, Yastika Bhatia, Taniya Bhatia (wk), Shikha Pandey, Jhulan Goswami, Meghna Singh, Pooja Vastrakar, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Poonam Yadav, Richa Ghosh, Ekta Bisht.

India T20I squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Sneh Rana, Yastika Bhatia, Shikha Pandey, Meghna Singh, Pooja Vastrakar, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Poonam Yadav, Richa Ghosh (wk), Harleen Deol, Arundhati Reddy, Radha Yadav, Renuka Singh.

Image: Instagram/@smriti_mandhana