Team India reached Sri Lanka on Wednesday ahead of the Women’s Asia Cup, which starts from Friday onwards. The defending champions, India will kickstart their journey towards a record-extending eighth Asia Cup title when they meet arch-rivals Pakistan at Dambulla on Friday. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) posted a video of the team-members, including Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Varma, Renuka Singh, Shreyanka Patil and skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, showing the fun and banter they had throughout their flight from Chennai to Dambulla.

“A journey filled with smiles and banter from Chennai to Dambulla! All set for #WomensAsiaCup2024 #TeamIndia | #ACC,” tweeted BCCI Women.

A journey filled with smiles and banter from Chennai to Dambulla!

All set for #WomensAsiaCup2024#TeamIndia | #ACC pic.twitter.com/FGl3HVCNbW

— BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) July 17, 2024

The 15-match tournament features full-member teams from Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka and will be joined by Malaysia, the UAE, Thailand, and Nepal.

Pakistan and India are placed in Group A along with Nepal and the UAE, while Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Thailand, and Malaysia are in Group B. The top two teams from each group will play in the semi-finals on July 26.

The final is set to be played on July 28 in Dambulla.

Leading up to the Women’s Asia Cup, Team India has enjoyed a lot of on-field sucess, like beating South Africa 3-0 in the ODI series and one-off Test recently in June-July and drawing the three-match T20I series 1-1, with one game washed out due to rain.

Before that, India had a successful tour of Bangladesh, beating them 5-0 in T20Is from April-May.

Between December last year and January, India also hosted Australia for a one-off Test, three ODIs and T20Is each, winning the Test match, but losing the ODI series 0-3 and the T20I series 1-2.

All of these series/tournaments will be crucial for India’s preparations for the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup being held this year from October 3-20 in Bangladesh, where India will be aiming for its first-ever major ICC women’s trophy.

India’s Women’s Asia Cup squad: India: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Shafali Verma, Deepti Sharma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh (wk), Uma Chetry (wk), Pooja Vastrakar, Arundhati Reddy, Renuka Singh Thakur, Dayalan Hemalatha, Asha Sobhana, Radha Yadav, Shreyanka Patil, Sajana Sajeevan. Traveling reserves: Shweta Sehrawat, Saika Ishaque, Tanuja Kanwer, Meghna Singh.

Star India batter Smriti Mandhana opened up on her mindset before the start of the Women’s Asia Cup 2024 and said that she just plays ‘according to the merit of the ball’. In the T20 format, Mandhana has played 136 matches and 131 innings, where she scored 3320 runs at an average of 28.13 and a strike rate of 121.83. The defending champions, India, will kickstart their journey towards a record-extending eighth Asia Cup title when they meet arch-rivals Pakistan at Dambulla on Friday.

Speaking on Star Sports, Mandhana said it is easier to bat in the second inning since a team will get the target, which makes it easier for them to calculate the risk.

“My mindset is just to play according to the merit of the ball. Sometimes you bat first or you bat second. Definitely, when you bat second, you have that score in front of you, and you can calculate your risks, and you can go for it. In the first innings, I feel in T20, it’s a bit of a disadvantage that you don’t know what you have to get to. But I think not to complicate it too much, just play according to the merit of the ball. It’s very simple, just keep it simple. I feel like that,” Mandhana said, according to Star Sports.

Leading up to the Women’s Asia Cup, Team India has enjoyed a lot of on-field sucess, like beating South Africa 3-0 in the ODI series and one-off Test recently in June-July and drawing the three-match T20I series 1-1, with one game washed out due to rain.

Before that, India had a successful tour of Bangladesh, beating them 5-0 in T20Is from April-May.

Between December last year and January, India also hosted Australia for a one-off Test, three ODIs and T20Is each, winning the Test match, but losing the ODI series 0-3 and the T20I series 1-2.

All of these series/tournaments will be crucial for India’s preparations for the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup being held this year from October 3-20 in Bangladesh, where India will be aiming for its first-ever major ICC women’s trophy.

India’s Women’s Asia Cup squad: India: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Shafali Verma, Deepti Sharma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh (wk), Uma Chetry (wk), Pooja Vastrakar, Arundhati Reddy, Renuka Singh Thakur, Dayalan Hemalatha, Asha Sobhana, Radha Yadav, Shreyanka Patil, Sajana Sajeevan. Travelling reserves: Shweta Sehrawat, Saika Ishaque, Tanuja Kanwer, Meghna Singh.

The upcoming Women’s Asia Cup in Dambulla, Sri Lanka, serves as a big chance for India to firmly nail their plans ahead of the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh in October. India come into the competition as the defending champions and apart from eyeing to defend their title, they also have the number three conundrum and got to seal ideal batting position for Jemimah Rodrigues. Jemimah used to be India’s number three batter in T20Is, before a back injury forced her to miss T20I tour of Bangladesh in April-May.

After that, all-rounder Dayalan Hemalatha, armed with a her strong bottom-hand and solid big-hitting skills against spinners, has occupied number three slot.

So who between Jemimah and Hemalatha would become the number three batter for India in the Asia Cup? Anjum Chopra, the former India captain, believes it will be fair if Jemimah is back to batting at one-down.

“What I think is India are looking to identify, what is the best combination, including number three position. Solving will happen when everything is already set. But the way probably it is looking now is the Indian team will play with this particular combination (from Chennai T20Is), which will be tested in the Asia Cup.”

“Jemi can also open, so it becomes nicer if she bats at three. As she is skillful enough to open the batting, that’s why she becomes such an important cog in the wheel. But it’s actually a very difficult situation for her because she then has to prepare to play at all positions,” says Anjum in an exclusive conversation with IANS.

Despite being a number three batter for India in T20Is for a long time, Jemimah displayed great adaptability as a number five batter, scoring an unbeaten 53 off 30 balls in the series opener against South Africa at Chennai.

Her ability to play power-packed shots and move across the crease to explore various angles means she adds tons of firepower in the Indian middle-order. “For me, it depends exactly as to what is the start and what is the option. When I say this is its because there is also a number four position, where presently Harman (Harmanpreet Kaur) bats.”

“So, for me to say that Jemimah bats at three or five, it means number four is Harman. Jemimah can bat at both three and five, but who is batting at three is the concern. If India is playing with an all-rounder, then Jemimah can come in at three, but if India is not playing with an all-rounder, then also she can come in at three,” adds Anjum.

Anjum, who played 158 games for India across all formats from 1995 to 2012, personally wishes to see captain Harmanpreet bat at number three, but is unsure if she’s willing to go up from her usual number four position.

“For me personally, I would feel that Harman should walk in at number three. In one of the T20Is recently against South Africa, there was an option. We had a very good start and possibly it was the right time for Harman to walk in at three. But there was somebody else who walked in at three (Hemalatha) and then Harman walked in at four.”

“So, if Harman is batting at three, then obviously Jemimah comes in at four. But if Harman continues to bat at four, because that is a more preferred position by her and probably by the team management too, then I feel it is a difficult one.”

“The partnership between Harman and Jemimah really gives a lot of options to the Indian team. They run well between the wickets and hit lots of boundaries as well. So, it would be nice that either of them bat alongside each other whether at three and four or four and three.”

After the third T20I at Chennai, which India won by ten wickets, vice-captain Smriti Mandhana said playing Hemalatha at number three is a calculated move. It potentially means Harmanpreet and Jemimah could remain at four and five respectively, with Smriti the lone left-handed batter in the top order.

Anjum signed off by saying in her view, Hemalatha is not the ideal batter at number three, citing the need of the hour being to put out your best batter out on the field as quickly as possible. “I don’t think the calculations worked right. So they’ll probably have to rework the calculations and understand what is the utility. She’s a very utility player, but where does she bat?”

“Because you have to understand that the kind of T20s that we are now exposed to, it’s possibly trying to get your best batter into the system as early as possible and not try to save them (for later). If Jemi is your best batter, she has to walk out early or at number three. If Harman is a good batter, then she has to obviously walk out early.”

“Then if Richa Ghosh is there, you have to promote her. If you feel that Pooja Vastrakar can take up that finisher role, so that flexibility has to be there. From where I see it, I don’t see Dayalan Hemalatha at three. My thing is when you go playing forward, you have to identify as to what is the best utility of that player in a given scenario.”

“Because we are not competing for 80s and 90s and 120s. The idea is that the Indian team has there in them to get scores in excess of 160, 165, 170. So, if you are putting the runs on the board and chasing, as a team, are we equipped to setting a target in excess of 160 or chasing down a target in excess of 170?”

File image of Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana© BCCI

India captain Harmanpreet Kaur remains resolute in their approach of going for a win in every game ahead of the Women’s Asia Cup match against arch-rivals Pakistan. India are scheduled to open their campaign against their historic nemesis in Dambulla on July 19. India have recently secured a 3-0 clean sweep against South Africa in the home ODI series. They also registered an emphatic 10-wicket win in the one-off Test before levelling the three-match T20I series 1-1 as the second game got washed out due to rain in Chennai. Before the pressure game against Pakistan, Harmanpreet said as a team they need to focus on their game rather than other parameters of the clash.

“When you play against Pakistan, there is a different atmosphere in both the countries. Both the countries want their team to win. As a player, there is a lot of pressure for us. But as a leader, it is my responsibility to make my team feel light in that environment, so that they don’t think that we are playing against Pakistan or it’s a pressure game. It will be important for me to make everyone feel that this is also just another game. We have to do well for the team and make the team win. Other than thinking about what is going on in the stadium, who are the other people cheering for? Who are they talking about? Just focus on the main things. Don’t think about the things that we can’t control,” Harmanpreet told Star Sports.

“The kind of approach we have right now, every day whenever we are going to play the matches, we are giving equal importance to all matches. We all are very greedy to win every game, and that is something we feel should be in a team, and this is what everyone in the team is feeling,” she added.

India batter Jemimah Rodrigues said the team’s atmosphere is positive and they are preparing well towards the common goal of winning every game in the tournament.

“The enthusiasm is really high, and that’s always been the scene. It’s a nice feeling, but more than that, it’s very inspiring to know that every time we walk out on the field, we know we have the support of every single person backing us. You know, many times we visualise that and walk into the field, so just imagine the confidence and the motivation we have to win every game,” she said.

“It’s just about how well we prepare rather than thinking too much ahead of ourselves. About the results, it’s always about preparation. So I think this is the mindset now. We know if we prepare well, we are going to go out there and do well,” Rodrigues added.

Speaking on the excitement of playing in the Women’s Asia Cup 2024, all-rounder Deepti Sharma said, “These are the kind of tournaments for which the players wait because it’s a big tournament. Our only goal is to perform well as a team, and we will back each other so that we perform well on the field for the further matches.”

Pooja Vastrakar’s lethal bowling in the T20I series against South African has given India vice-captain Smriti Mandhana the confidence that the pacer can replicate the form in the Women’s T20 World Cup in October in Bangladesh. The 24-year-old quick took eight wickets here with a best of 4/13 in the final game on Tuesday, which helped the hosts thrash the Proteas by 10 wickets to level the three-match series 1-1. The second match was washed out but South Africa played the full 20 overs and Vastrakar grabbed two wickets.

Smriti was in awe of Vastrakar’s bowling, which helped India restrict South Africa Women to 84 on Tuesday.

“In the first two matches, the wickets were flat, and for her to come with such figures is amazing. We hope she keeps doing the same things and will be crucial for us in the World Cup,” Mandhana told reporters on Tuesday.

“She is brilliant with the ball. It’s been a long series for all of us, and being a bowler, I wonder how has she done that (carried on without getting tired)?” Besides the T20Is, India also played a one-off Test and three ODIs against South Africa.

Mandhana also recalled Vastrakar’s performance in the five-match T20I series in Bangladesh in April-May, where she took five wickets — the joint second-highest number of scalps.

“Even during the Bangladesh T20I series, the way she bowled, especially during the death overs, I struggled to see the ball when she was running in so quickly,” added Mandhana.

“We knew she had made a difference about how she has been bowling in the last few months. Coming into the series, we were confident of her.” Mandhana credited the pre-series camp at the National Cricket Academy for the success against South Africa.

“A lot of effort was put in during the batters’ camp that we had at the NCA before the series. The number of hours in the camp with the bat helps you.

“Throughout the series, all the players were ready to play and bat across formats, having practiced those scenarios in the camp. I believe in working hard when no one’s watching, and that helped me and the team perform well in this series.” The series has also been special for Shafali Varma, who finished among the top three run-getters for her side.

“Shafali bats the best when she doesn’t think a lot. You don’t give a batter like her a lot of information. The only conversation (I have) from the non-striker’s end is when she wants to hurry up, and all I say is ‘stay’. As a senior player, my job is to guide her about the bowler, and she adapts.

“Initially, in her career, she was aggressive, but now, she knows which bowler to target. I’m sure, doing this a lot more will help.” Mandhana was not in favour of too much shuffling in the batting order in the T20 Asia Cup in Sri Lanka later this month.

“We will have a similar set of conditions during the Asia Cup. But, I think it’s a good problem to have since, for a few years, we have wanted to have a few players who can go out and win the matches for us.

“Also, the confidence that the WPL has given has got them in that space. But it’s a calculated big call that we have thought about. It’s a lot to do with what we feel that can win us a lot of matches rather than just one or two. I won’t say that there would be a lot of shuffling.”

Not the way we wanted to end series: Laura Wolvaardt

South African skipper Laura Wolvaardt felt that her batters failed to judge the pitch and adapt to the conditions.

“Not the way we wanted to end the series. The pitch felt ‘stoppy’ when we were batting. Also, I don’t think we adapted to the conditions as well as we could have.

“But, it’s a tough one since we have been speaking about being a lot more positive as a batting unit, which came off in the first two (T20I) games. It was a tough toss to lose (in the third T20I), but we could have put up 140-150.” “We will take a lot of learnings from the series. We are happy with how we batted in the first two games; we made a lot of big strides. So, I don’t want this (last) game to send us backwards,” she added.

Pacer Pooja Vastrakar ran riot with a career-best bowling show of 4/13 before Smriti Mandhana shone with the bat with an unbeaten half century, as India thrashed South Africa by 10 wickets in the third and final women’s T20 International to level the series 1-1 in Chennai on Tuesday. Left-arm spinner Radha Yadav also chipped in with a fine performance of 3/6 from her three over to help India shoot South Africa out for a mere 84 in 17.1 overs after opting to bowl. India easily chased down the small target of 85 with 55 balls to spare and without losing any wicket with opening batters Mandhana and Shafali Verma remaining not out on 54 and 27 respectively.

Mandhana hit the winning runs — a six off Nadine de Klerk — as India reached 88 for no loss in 10.5 overs. This was India’s biggest victory over South Africa in this format, both in terms of wickets (10) and balls to spare (55).

Mandhana, who was at her magnificent best towards the end of the run chase, hit a six in the 10th over and followed it up with two fours and a maximum in the next to end the contest quickly. This was her 24th T20I half century.

The Indian opening duo played smart cricket, managing 40 for no loss at the end of the powerplay, with the visitors using five different bowlers in this phase but without any success Mandhana and Verma later went for the big shots to end the contest quickly.

In all, Mandhana struck eight fours and two sixes from the 40 balls she faced while Verma scored three fours from 25 balls.

South Africa had won the first match by 12 runs before the second T20I was washed out on Saturday.

Earlier, only three South African batters managed to score in double-digit figures, with Tazmin Brits (20 off 23 balls) being their top scorer.

Openers Laura Wolvaardt (9 off 9 balls) and Brits could only manage 19 runs for the first wicket.

As Shreyanka Patil dismissed Wolvaardt in the fourth over, the pair of Brits and Marizanne Kapp (10 off 8 balls) added 11 runs for the second wicket.

Interestingly, the Indians used four different bowlers in the opening four overs.

Kapp fell in the fifth over, as she became Vastrakar’s 50th wicket in the format. Next to go for South Africa was Brits with Deepti Sharma grabbing her prized wicket in the eighth over, as the scoreboard read 45 for three.

The same over saw Chloe Tryon being dropped by Deepti, as the slew of poor fielding from the hosts continued in the third straight contest.

Yet, the visitors struggled to get a proper partnership going, having dominated with the bat in the previous two outings.

They lost their next two wickets at the score of 61 in the 11th over, thanks to Vastrakar exploiting the wicket.

Halfway through the innings, it was evident that the track did not have much for the batters, with spongy bounce and mild turn.

Also, the rain in the city in the past couple of days had made the wicket moist, leading to Vastrakar getting mild swings through her medium pace, which indeed troubled the South Africans.

Things simply went worse for South Africa thereon as they lost the remaining five wickets for just 23 runs.

Hero of India’s victorious T20 World Cup campaign, Jasprit Bumrah added another feather to his hat when he was on Tuesday named the ‘ICC Men’s Player of the Month for June’. It was double delight for India as women’s team vice-captain Smriti Mandhana was also named the ‘Women’s Player of the Month’ by the global body. Mandhana won her first ICC Women’s Player of the Month after playing a starring role in India’s sweep over South Africa in the ODI series last month.

Bumrah came out on top in the men’s vote from compatriot Rohit Sharma and Rahmanullah Gurbaz of Afghanistan, while Mandhana won the women’s award by overcoming England’s Maia Bouchier and Sri Lanka’s Vishmi Gunaratne.

Bumrah, who bagged 15 wickets to be adjudged the Player-of-the-Tournament in the T20 global showpiece last month, also claimed the Men’s Player of the Month accolade for June, the ICC announced.

“I am delighted to be named the ICC Men’s Player of the Month for June,” Bumrah said in the ICC statement.

“It’s a special honour for me following a memorable few weeks spent in the USA and West Indies. We have had a lot to celebrate as a team, and I’m delighted to be able to add this personal accolade to the list.” The 30-year-old was at his dependable best in the USA and Caribbean and bowled at an average of 8.26, at an astonishing economy rate of 4.17.

He joined Virat Kohli (a two-time winner in his own right) as India players to claim the Men’s T20 World Cup Player of the Tournament award.

India were the first team to win the men’s T20 World Cup without losing a game all tournament.

Barring a washout against Canada in the first round, the Rohit Sharma-led India went on to win all eight matches they played in the tournament.

“To perform as well as we did at the tournament and lift the trophy at the end is incredibly special, and I will carry those memories with me forever,” Bumrah said.

“I wish to congratulate my captain Rohit Sharma and Rahmanullah Gurbaz for their excellent performances in the same period, and I am humbled to have been chosen as the winner.” In the women’s game, Mandhana set the tone with a commanding 117 in the first outing in Bengaluru. Despite an early stutter by the hosts in which they fell to 99 for five, Mandhana remained resolute, and benefitted from some lower order resistance to guide India to a formidable score of 265 from their 50 overs, which proved far beyond the Proteas.

Mandhana went one better in the second match, hitting her second successive century and top scoring in a game that saw 646 runs in total. The opener blitzed the South African bowling attack, smashing 136 in 120 balls and in tandem with her captain Harmanpreet Kaur, posted just enough to see off the resurgent visitors.

She came close to sealing a hat-trick of hundreds in the final outing, falling agonizingly on 90 in a stylish effort that ensured India recorded a comfortable victory to close out the series.

During the period, Mandhana recorded 343 runs at an average of 114.33, with a strike rate of over 100, earning her the Player of the Series award.

“I’m really glad to have won the ICC Women’s Player of the Month for June. I’m really happy with the way the team has performed and I’m happy to have contributed.

For us, we won the ODI and the Test series and hopefully we can continue our form and I can further contribute to win more matches for India,” Mandhana said.

Smriti Mandhana and Palash Muchhal© Instagram

Desperate to level the three-match series after the second game was washed out, India would hope weather doesn’t play spoilsport, besides eyeing a much-improved bowling effort in the final women’s T20I against South Africa here on Tuesday. India are trailing the three-match series 0-1 after losing the opener by 12 runs. Their problems compounded after the second game here on Sunday was washed out midway due to persistent drizzle. And with 30 to 40 per cent of rain forecast for Tuesday, the Indians are left on the mercy of weather gods.

In both the matches, the Indian bowlers cut a sorry figure as South Africa amassed 189 for 9 and 177 for 6 respectively.

Barring Pooja Vastrakar, who picked up two wickets each in both the games, and spinner Deepti Sharma, most of the Indian bowlers failed to shine against the Proteas women.

Renuka Singh leaked runs in the first game and was subsequently replaced by Sajeevan Sajana in the second T20I but the latter also didn’t her cause.

Shreyanka Patil and Radha Yadav picked up a wicket each on Sunday but continued to leak runs.

India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur would want her bowlers to pull up their socks with the series at stake.

On the batting front, it has been a decent show by the Indians in the first game. The likes of Jemimah Rodrigues (53 not out), Smriti Mandhana (46), Harmanpreet (35), Shafali Verma (18) and Daylan Hemalatha (14) all making double digit scores.

Uma Chetry, who made her T20I debut on Sunday, is likely to persisted with as Harmanpreet and the team management would like to see her exploits with the bat.

South Africa, on the other hand, has been rock solid with the bat with Tazmin Brits, who hit consecutive half-centuries, leading the charge.

Besides Brits, skipper Laura Wolvaardt, Marizanne Kapp and Anneke Bosch have contributed with the bat as well for the visitors.

South Africa’s only concern is Chloe Tryon, who has scored identical 12 runs in the two games.

And with the upcoming T20 World Cup in Bangladesh in mind, Tryon will be desperate to prove her detractors wrong.

Teams:

India Women: Harmanpreet Kaur(c), Smriti Mandhana(vc), Uma Chetry(wk), Richa Ghosh(wk), Dayalan Hemalatha, Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Verma, Amanjot Kaur, Shreyanka Patil, Sajeevan Sajana, Deepti Sharma, Asha Sobhana, Arundhati Reddy, Renuka Singh, Shabnam Shakil, Pooja Vastrakar and Radha Yadav.

South Africa Women: Laura Wolvaardt(c), Tazmin Brits, Mieke de Ridder(wk), Sinalo Jafta(wk), Anneke Bosch, Nadine de Klerk, Annerie Dercksen, Marizanne Kapp, Sune Luus, Chloe Tryon, Ayabonga Khaka, Masabata Klaas, Eliz-Mari Marx, Nonkululeko Mlaba and Tumi Sekhukhune.

Match starts: 7.00 pm (IST).