The vice-captain of the Indian Women’s Team, Smriti Mandhana, said on Friday that they hope to find a long-term head coach, but they aren’t going to lose sleep over it.
Media reports say that Amol Mazumdar is likely to be the long-term head coach of the India women’s team. However, because BCCI is still taking its time, Nooshin Al Khadeer has been named as an interim coach for the current home match against Bangladesh.
After Ramesh Powar was fired as head coach, the BCCI made Hrishikesh Kanitkar the team’s temporary coach before the T20 Women’s World Cup.
“Well, I’m sure BCCI has been looking for a coach, and I’m sure we’ll have a long-term coach soon. “What’s going on around us doesn’t really matter to us as a team,” Mandhana told reporters at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium on Friday.
“I think that for us, what matters is how we play cricket. I’m sure BCCI is thinking about getting a coach who will stay with them until the World Cup. So we’ll just have to wait until this series is over and see what comes next,” she said.
“But I’m sure it’s not a big deal in terms of players, since all we want to do is play the best cricket we can. I think that all of the coaches who have come have been very helpful. Sometimes it’s a plus, too, because a new coach can bring new ideas and tips to the team. So, if I look at it in a positive way, I’d say it’s also a good thing and that a long-term coach is definitely coming soon,” she said.
Mandhana also said that she doesn’t feel like she needs to put up big scores all the time because she thinks she is hitting the ball well and just can’t turn her starts into big ones regularly.
“I think I’ve been hitting the ball well both in the net and in the game. I’ve been getting starts, but it’s not often that I hit the ball in the middle and the team doesn’t score runs. “I’ve been working on it, though,” she said.
“I thought the last game went well because I was able to get the team off to a good start. But for sure, through my goal again. So, yeah, I think it’s more about how to use it. Just the application hasn’t been how I’ve always done it, I think. So, yeah, I’ve been working on that,” she said.
“Well, I don’t think we had many tournaments after the Women’s Premier League. This is the first tournament we’ve played since then.” So, yeah, I’ve put a lot of work into my cricket and hitting over the last three months. So definitely not able to turn that into scores, but I’m sure the work I’ve done in the last three months will show and I’ll get steady scores,” she said, adding that she is not ready to use wicket as an excuse.
“Well, I think it’s for sure a difficult pitch to play on. I don’t know which style of hitting goes with which. “I think, yeah, it’s a tough wicket, but I don’t think we’ll worry too much about it because we worked hard in the last game and got a score of 200 or more,” she said.
“I think this pitch needs a lot more practice than a flat track does. So I wouldn’t say it fits any of our ways of batting, but I don’t think it’s because the wicket is harder; I think it’s just a matter of how you hit the ball. Because, as a cricket player, you have to change the way you play based on where you play. So, yeah, it’s all about how we change and work,” she said.
Mandhana also said that they are not taking anything for granted in the series-deciding match at home.
“I would say that they have played very good cricket the whole tour, in both T20s and one-day games. And I’m sure they’ll come at us hard, so we won’t take anything for granted,” she said.
“We’re getting ready as much as we did for every game. I think that batting for us has definitely been the deciding factor. If we want to get a good score, I think that will be a big role. I think we need to be good at batting, bowling, and defense if we want to beat them. So, I agree, I don’t think we’re taking anything lightly. We’re just working on how we can get better as a team, and we hope to finish the series tomorrow,” she said.
