'Had To Be Hard On Myself': Mandhana On Dealing With Aftermaths Of India's Failed T20 WC Campaign

The Indian women's cricket team endured an extremely disappointing T20 World Cup 2024 campaign as they were shockingly knocked out of the group stages of the tournament. 

India failed to enter the semi-final and one of the biggest culprits was the team's poor batting. However, India is now on a road to recovery after winning the ODI series against T20 World Cup champions New Zealand. Post the series win, Indian opener Smriti Mandhana revealed how the team is coping with aftermaths of the failed World Cup campaign and aiming to bounce back. 

Smriti Mandhana on dealing with T20 WC disappointment

India's T20 World Cup campaign was one to forget. With losses to eventual champions New Zealand and Australia in the group stages, the women in blue crashed out of the tournament prematurely. 

Post the T20 World Cup, India's first assignment was a home series against New Zealand. India sealed the series win thanks to Smriti Mandhana (100 off 122 balls), who wasn't able to showcase her class at the top of the order in the two previous games, made her 8th ODI hundred century, the most by an Indian in the format, while Kaur remained not out on 59 as India won the match by six wickets.

Post the match, Smriti Mandhana revealed that she was hard on herself after failing to perform for India at the T20 World Cup. 

"Had to be little hard on myself early on and wait for the first 10 overs to go before taking the game on. For me what works is the harder way. Need to do it for the team first. Getting out early means I’ve let the team down and that thought doesn’t let me sleep well," said Smriti Mandhana.  

Also Read | Mandhana slams 8th ODI century as India seal series against New Zealand

‘Wanted to win series at any cost’ - Harmanpreet Kaur

India captain Harmanpreet Kaur post the win admitted that her team wanted to win the three-match Women's ODI series against New Zealand "at any cost" after a forgettable outing in the recent T20 World Cup.

India failed to reach the semifinals of the T20 showpiece in the UAE and entered the third and final ODI against the Kiwis with the series tied at 1-1 here.

"It was important for us as we wanted to win this series at any cost," Kaur said at the post-match press conference.

She added, "As I said in the morning, we discussed a lot of things and really happy we could execute today. Whenever we play, we always want to give our 100% but sometimes things don't go your way.

"As a professional cricketer you have to keep pushing yourself and keep going. We discussed these things in the team meeting so really happy we could come back after that loss in the last game." The captain praised Mandhana for her fine knock, which paved the way for a successful chase of a target of 233.

Also Read | Mandhana slams 8th ODI century as India seal series against New Zealand

"Would like to give credit to Smriti, she was struggling early on but she managed to get runs. Really happy about our partnership." She also said the team needs to work a lot more to become the best fielding side in the world.

While, India still continues to recover from the T20 World Cup disappointment, the series win over New Zealand is definitely a morale booster and won that can bring confidence back into the dugout. 

(With PTI Inputs)