Archive photo of Smriti Mandhana.© AFP
Indian Vice-Captain Smriti Mandhana is considering withdrawing from the Women’s Big Bash League to manage her workload so she can be in top shape for national duties. Mandhana has been on the move since February, when India played a bilateral series against New Zealand ahead of the ODI World Cup. After the Commonwealth Games last month, the southpaw stayed in the UK for the Hundred and is now part of the bilateral series against host nation England.
“I think more than the mental part, it’s about managing a little bit of the physical part,” Mandhana said in a virtual media interview ahead of the second T20. “I will definitely think about withdrawing from WBBL because I don’t want to miss playing for India or have any problems if I play for India because I want to give my 100% when I play international cricket. So I will be there definitely thinking about playing Big Bash or withdrawing.” India’s female cricketers have not played for 12 months during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, Mandhana has no issues with the busier schedule she has to deal with.
“I’ve been on the road for a while. After the one-day World Cup, I’ve been out and about with the domestic and the tournaments you mentioned (the Sri Lanka tour, the Commonwealth Games, the Women’s Hundred).
“I’m just trying to tell myself that because of Covid we haven’t really played much cricket and we really hoped we would come back and play cricket.
“And now I can’t complain that we have a lot of cricket on the board. As a female player, we always wanted such a schedule for us.
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“I’m very happy that I play cricket so much and that my family is here, like my mother is here and she was here for the Hundred too. So that also helps to have a good attitude and the team – friends were just great. It feels like we are a family together.”
(This story was not edited by NDTV staff and was generated automatically from a syndicated feed.)
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