India, vice-captain Smriti Mandhana said the team will stick to an aggressive approach when they take on Australia in their must-win Women’s T20 World Cup clash on Sunday. With a semi-final berth at stake, India know that a win over the six-time champions will almost certainly ensure their progression after finding themselves in a tight race with South Africa. Speaking ahead of the crucial clash, Mandhana admitted that India’s batting unit has not performed as consistently as it would have liked in the tournament so far. “It’s a big game obviously. We’ve all talked a lot about how we really want to play the aggressive brand of cricket and that’s something we’ll be looking to do tomorrow,” he said.Mandhana believes that India have narrowed the gap with Australia significantly in recent years, thanks to increased exposure in franchise cricket and experience in high-pressure matches. She pointed to India’s recent success in Australia and the impact of tournaments like the Women’s Premier League.“We did well in the T20 format in Australia. We take a lot of confidence from that. With the WPL, I feel the girls are also very prepared in terms of taking the high-pressure games a bit better than we could before,” she said.“But, yes, again, I feel the gap is definitely narrowing. With a few of our players playing Big Bash, the experience is shared and I feel the kind of cricket the Indian team has played in the last four, five years – the gap is narrowing.”
Mandhana opens up on Shafali
The left-handed opener also expressed hope that she and Shafali Verma can provide India with a strong start against Australia after struggling for consistency in recent matches.“We had a very quiet series in England. Both of us were really pumped to turn to give the good starts for India because, of course, whenever we lay the foundation, more or less, we are in a good place,” said Mandhana.She also revealed that conversations with former Australian opener Matthew Hayden and Sri Lankan legend Kumar Sangakkara helped her improve her batting.“I watched Sangakkara sir and Matthew Hayden a lot. I remember even in my bad days, I used to watch their videos. So when I saw him (Hayden) doing the commentary, I got really excited,” he said.“We had a good discussion and I wanted to know a few things about the flu, etc. I also told him that I chat before an Australian game, I don’t know if he wants to do this, but he was really kind and sweet. He shared a lot of things, which I hope I can apply to my boat.”