WBBL exposure will help India, reckons Smriti Mandhana

The Indian women's team are set to begin their T20 World Cup campaign against Australia on February 21. India had managed to reach the semi-finals in the last edition of the tournament in the Caribbean and would like to go one step better this time. With the tournament to be held in Australia, Smriti Mandhana believed that the experience of playing the Women's Big Bash League would come in handy.

She told Sportstar,

“The exposure that we get playing the other big leagues help. We understand a lot about the T20I format. And especially you get to play all the bowlers beforehand, before appearing in the World Cup. Having played the Big Bash League, we will know the conditions better, specially Harman [Harmanpreet Kaur] and I. We will be able to pass on the knowledge to the youngsters.”

Mandhana has 10 T20I fifties to her name and even though she is only 23, she is among one of India's most experienced batsmen. She believes that not putting too much pressure on herself is the key and that she is ready to treat this tournament like any other.

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Mandhana asserted,

“This time, I have kept it quite simple. I don’t really need to stress myself with the thought that there is a World Cup. I want to be calm and composed.

“I am just going to play a cricket tournament to enjoy my batting. That’s the key thing which has given me success and I will try to do that in the World Cup too.”