"You don't take any team lightly": India's Smriti Mandhana ahead of Women's Asia Cup semi-final
Jul 23, 2024
Dambulla [Sri Lanka], July 23 : India stand-in captain Smriti Mandhana stated that the team won't take their semi-final opponent lightly after their group stage concluded on an unbeaten note.
India defeated Nepal with an emphatic 82-run victory to conclude their group-stage campaign. The Harmanpreet Kaur-led side finished at the top of Group A, unbeaten with six points.
Following India's victory, Pakistan qualified for the final four as well by finishing the group stage in the second spot.
With India set to play in the final four and their opponents yet to be decided, Smriti stated that the Indian team won't take their opponents lightly.
"You don't take any team (semi-final opponent) lightly. We have two days to rest and practice before we go out and apply ourselves," Smriti said after the match.
India began their campaign with a thumping 7-wicket win over arch-rival Pakistan. They continued their unbeaten streak with a 78-run victory over the United Arab Emirates.
Against Nepal, India outplayed them in all facets of the game. Bindu Rawal, with her unbeaten knock of 17, ensured that Nepal didn't fold completely and ended their innings with a score of 96/9.
After witnessing a resilient performance from Nepal, Smriti is hopeful that they continue to grow and improve.
"They (Nepal) always had a smile on their faces, but sometimes, with the amount of cricket we play, we forget to enjoy the game. They played some good cricket, and hopefully, they keep improving, and we get to play them often," she stated.
Throughout the tournament, India's middle order wasn't completely tested, with openers Mandhana and Shafali Verma doing the majority of the job for the team.
Smriti was delighted to see the middle-order get some game time under their belt ahead of the knockout stage.
"As an opener, you don't get a lot of games where you don't bat. Much needed game time for all the other batters. The middle order hasn't batted in the previous games. The conditions were different, and it is always good to have game time under your belt. The middle order didn't get time in the South Africa series as well, so good they could spend some time in the middle. The preparations started post-WPL, there are a lot of fine-tuning to be done, and we have to keep improving, cannot go into a World Cup underprepared," she remarked.
