Here’s the full transcript Smriti Mandhana’s press conference for the India vs Australia clash
[Reporter:]
Smriti, the most important match of the World Cup tomorrow. So how does the team look forward to it? Australia?
[Smirti Mandhana:]
We all are really looking forward to it. A very important match for us, a must-win for us to go through. Having said that, we’ll stick with the processes. We’ll go out there, work hard, work really hard, and try and put up the best which we can do. And I’m sure it’s an important match and everyone is aware of that. But having said that, we have done well against them and we’ll take that confidence ahead.
[Reporter:]
Before every crunch game against Australia, people talk about Harman a lot, and in this World Cup she hasn’t scored as many runs as she would have liked to, of course. So she must be itching to score runs. This is a big game, obviously. What have you seen of her in the dressing room? How it’s been so far in this tournament?
[Smirti Mandhana:]
I think everyone is itching to score runs tomorrow and win against Australia. I would not like to name one player. I think everyone in the batting unit are itching to go. We’ve been speaking a lot in the batting meeting about how we really want to go out there and bat with intent. Yeah, it’s not happened as much as we would have loved to, but yeah, having said that, we all are really itching to go out there tomorrow and bat.
[Reporter:]
You have won your last bilateral T20I series against Australia. So how much of that confidence will you take into this important— which is a game which is like a virtual quarterfinal?
[Smirti Mandhana:]
Yeah, we did well in the T20 format in Australia. We’ll take a lot of confidence from that. And also, I feel that with the WPL, I feel the girls are also very well prepped in terms of taking the high-pressure games a little better than what we could before. So hopefully we can take all of those experience and memories and play the best we can tomorrow.
[Reporter:]
I just wanted to ask, it’s Lords and it’s a doubleheader tomorrow— South Africa, Bangladesh, Australia. How are the girls who haven’t played at Lords before, and especially Prema Rawat, who flew in in middle of the tournament, how are they feeling about playing at Lords?
[Smirti Mandhana:]
Well, we’ve just been— just 20 minutes we stepped into Lords. I haven’t seen their reactions yet. I’m sure it’s an iconic ground for everyone to play. I remember first time when I came here, it took me almost 20-30 minutes to just see everything at the ground. But having said that, we all know that it’s an important game tomorrow, so we’ll not really— we’ll take that into account. That’s a special moment, but again, we have a job to do when we play for India, and everyone is really aware of that.
[Reporter:]
Yeah, especially with the test incoming as well.
[Smirti Mandhana:]
Still a long way to go.—
[Reporter:]
Its an important match tomorrow, do you have any specific strategy planning for it?
[Smirti Mandhana:]
I mean, I am just saying, it’s the first time I am talking in Marathi in UK at a press conference. But I don’t think I’ll be able to answer in Marathi here, everyone would not understand.
I will say, again, I feel the strategy is just for us, it’s about today. We just come in, we’ll see the wicket, we’ll see how the conditions are and how cricket we really want to play. But we’ve all spoken a lot about how we really want to be playing the aggressive brand of cricket, and that’s something which we’ll all look to do tomorrow.
[Reporter:]
Australia has had really strong power play bowling numbers, how much confidence do you draw again from your own really good record against Australia and from Shafali?
[Smirti Mandhana:]
I mean, yeah, of course Australia is a good team. They’ve always— we’ve always had good contests against them. Even as a batter, I’ve always looked forward to play them because of course they are one of the best in the world. Having said that, we’ve had good success against them. And yeah, again, for me, I wouldn’t really look into past what’s happened, what I have done against them, or what team has done. We all have to really go out, play the ball, and not anything else. Not the situation, not anything else. We just have to play the ball and get the best for the team.
[Reporter:]
And Smriti, your partnership with Shafali has started to rock again. How important do you think it is for the team? And your thoughts on the way Shafali is fast turning into an all-rounder? She’s even bowling the first over.
[Smirti Mandhana:]
Yeah, I mean, watching Shafali bat from the other end is a pleasure for sure. We had a very quiet series in England. We both were really pumped to get back to giving the good starts for India because of course whenever we lay the foundation, more or less we are in good place. And that’s what we will look to do and we always look to do. So I’m really happy that, the way she’s striking the ball, and I hope that we can stitch up a partnership together tomorrow.
[Reporter:]
Your thoughts on the way she’s bowling in this tournament?
[Smirti Mandhana:]
Oh, she’s been amazing. I mean, She did that in the World Cup final for sure, then a little bit in WPL as well. I remember her getting a player of the match for her bowling in WPL. So not that she hasn’t done it, but again, she’s been really, really useful. She’s chipped in with a lot of overs for us. And yeah, I think just sometimes it’s as a batter, it’s also very like, if Shafali is bowling to me, I would also be like, okay, I don’t know what is coming. So yeah, again, it’s very handy to have her as a bowler.
[Reporter:]
Looking at the weather conditions here with the heat wave going on, and India will be playing the second game tomorrow, so do you think that by the time the second innings of the game, the wicket probably will slow down a little bit, or maybe the spinners will come into the game?
[Smirti Mandhana:]
Trust me, it’s been 15 minutes, I haven’t even entered the ground yet for me to actually answer it. Too soon for me to tell. Of course, it’s been extremely dry in UK for the last 2-3 days and the conditions are changing a lot. But having said that, we’ll have to look how the ground is and how the wicket is, and then only I would be able to comment on it.
[Reporter:]
I was seeing an interview you had recently said that when you came here in 2017 for the ODI World Cup, you were in real awe of Australian team, how everybody was looking up towards them and the kind of respect they were getting. But like you said, the bilateral series win recently, the semi-final last year— do you think that gap between the two teams has narrowed down considerably in the last 9-10 years?
[Smirti Mandhana:]
Yeah, I mean, I think I was speaking about the 2016 or 2014 World Cup. I think much more than the 2017 World Cup, which I was referring to. But yeah, again, I feel the gap has definitely narrowed with few of our players playing Big Bash, them playing the WPL. The experience has been shared, and I feel the kind of cricket Indian team has played in the last 4-5 years— I wouldn’t say only last 2 years, but I think it was a build-up in the last 5-6 odd years, how steadily I think we’ve played. And definitely, of course, that gap has narrowed down, and I just feel now at this moment, especially in T20 cricket. It’s just about whoever— whichever team is having a good day is going to win the match.
[Reporter:]
And if you don’t mind sharing, what kind of a chat did you have with Matthew Hayden the other day after the match?
[Smirti Mandhana:]
Well, I have looked up to Sangakkara sir and Matthew Hayden quite a lot. I mean, I remember even in my bad days I would go out and watch their videos. So when I saw him doing the comms in the morning, I generally don’t really get excited, but I did get excited. But yeah, again, we had a good discussion about— I really wanted to know a few things about the grip and the few things. Again, I don’t want to really go into what we spoke, but yeah, it was a good chat. And I also told him that, chatting before an Australian in game. I don’t know if you would like to do that, but he was really kind and sweet, and I think he shared a lot of things which is— I hope I can apply them today in the practice.
