Asian Games 2023: While every piece is fitting right into the place for the Indian women’s team, one sign of worry is still there. And that is none other than Indian skipper Smriti Mandhana and her form.
Smriti sprung back into the form during the Bangladesh series and was fantastic in the initial stages of The Hundred. Her form started dipping down again by the end of the tournament and her last three scores were in single digits only.
While Harmanpreet Kaur is out for the first two matches of the Asian Games 2023, Smriti has the command of the Indian team. We all know that she likes to lead the team from the front and if she is not in form, her leadership also gets affected.
That is exactly the case and while every player is coming back into their prime form, Mandhana is still struggling. We saw that during the first match of the Asian Games against Malaysia.
Underwhelming Start To Asian Games 2023
India batted first against Malaysia and had a flying start. But we once again saw the same problem that we are used to now. Smriti had a flying start to the inning and played some beautiful shots but failed to convert it.
She was out for 27 on 16 deliveries, while it looks like a bog score, with context things are different. Malaysia was deemed to be a team where every Indian batswoman could statpad and that was the case.
While Shafali Verma and Jemimah Rodrigues touched big scores, Richa Ghosh made 21 in just 7 deliveries. But the skipper was struggling once again and was not able to impress anyone, which is a shame.
Big Challenge Ahead
If India wants to do well in future competitions, Smriti must come back in form. Because without her, half of the firepower of the team comes crashing down. And we all know how impressive she can be when in form.
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