The year is 2014. India and England are locking horns in a keen tussle on the well-manicured lawns of Wormsley. As the sun peeped out of the dark clouds, Smriti Mandhana, all of 18 years old, essayed a sublime cover drive off Anya Shrubsole, the England pacer. Mandhana’s nifty feet and the gift of timing just seemed like a perfect synonym to a touch of sunshine brightening up a gloomy day.
In a few minutes, when the clouds took back their place, it felt as if the Cricketing Gods had decided it was time to draw the curtains down on Mandhana’s innings. The left-hander was dismissed LBW as she walked back to the pavilion after composing a crucial fifty on her Test debut.
India went on to register a historic win in that game. The result of that match was written with indelible ink in the annals of Indian cricket. There was something else from that encounter, which had a seal of permanence in the writer’s eyes – Mandhana’s cover drive. A decade later, that shot has become the signature of Mandhana’s well-rounded game. She has also become most marketable face of women’s cricket in the country.
Despite all the accolades and praises, the essence of her success hasn’t changed – work ethic and dedication to her craft. For evidence, transport yourself back to 2020. With Covid-19 around and the Indian government announcing lockdown and restrictions, there was hardly any cricket taking place. Amidst such a scenario, Mandhana was seen in the nets, virtually practicing a single shot – the cover drive. Every single time, she seemed to be focusing on getting her head slightly forward in her stance and over the front foot.
The simplest way to test the above-mentioned truth is to do some number-crunching. In her first 47 T20Is, Mandhana averaged a mere 21.17. Since the commencement of the T20 World Cup in 2018, that average has ramped up to almost 33 and the strike rate is at a creditable 126.32. It is even more evident in the 50-over format, with Mandhana averaging 52.18 since the start of 2019.
If we dig deeper into her impressive achievements, there is also an intangible asset attached to her game – nerves of steel behind the smile. Just spool back in time to March 2023. After Royal Challengers Bengaluru suffered yet another loss, against UP Warriorz, in the WPL, Mandhana’s shoulders slumped. A few tears even rolled down the cheeks of the RCB skipper. The Bengaluru franchise ended up with just two wins in that competition. Instead of wallowing in some of those gut-wrenching losses, Mandhana bounced back in style, captaining RCB to a title triumph this year.
Mandhana’s detractors might still point out a few flaws in her batting. One of them could be her game against spin. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Mandhana didn’t score a single ton in her first 35 ODIs at home. In a nutshell, on some of the slower decks in India, it wasn’t exactly smooth sailing for the left-hand batter. But, in June this year, she showcased a different version of her batting; someone who was willing to play according to the game situation and the conditions on view.
In the first ODI of India-South Africa series at the Chinnaswamy, the tourists’ seamers ended up extracting enough help upfront. The spinners – Nonkululeko Mlaba and Nondusimo Sanghase, too were taking advantage of the grip on offer. At one point of time, India were struggling at 99 for 5. Mandhana, though, used all her experience to negate the threat and crack a game-breaking hundred.
All those expansive shots were safely kept in the locker, with Mandhana hardly charging down the deck to the spinners. Instead, she looked to nurdle it around off the back foot. She also used a big enough front-foot stride to keep the ball out. Basically, Mandhana was intent on scoring runs only when she was offered the chance to free her arms. It was an innings of style, substance and resilience.
A generous portion of Mandhana’s flair was very much visible when she stroked that fluent fifty all those years ago at Wormsley. Now, she has added an outside coating of grit and batting smarts to it. The Indian think-tank, for one, would trust her to exhibit all her qualities in the upcoming T20 World Cup in the UAE.