Smriti Mandhana should play her natural game in Asia Cup final, says Vivek Razdan

Vivek Razdan has urged India vice-captain Smriti Mandhana to play her natural game and anchor the innings in Sunday’s Women’s Asia Cup final against Sri Lanka. He also warned India against underestimating the defending champions after their semifinal comeback

New Delhi: Former India men’s cricketer Vivek Razdan said vice-captain Smriti Mandhana must anchor the innings and play to her natural strengths rather than try to emulate the high-risk aggression of her opening partner, Shafali Verma, in the upcoming Women’s Asia Cup final against Sri Lanka.

Seven-time champions India enter Sunday’s final at the Dubai International Stadium as favourites to win the title, though they lost to Sri Lanka in the 2024 edition final in Dambulla. Razdan warned against taking defending champions Sri Lanka lightly following their hard-fought victory over Pakistan in the semifinal on Friday.

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“The Indian team is a very strong team. But you can’t underestimate Sri Lanka, especially the way they played against Pakistan. After being 33/4, they chased down the required target. Despite Athapaththu being out early, you can see how much batting depth the team has,” Razdan told IANS in a virtual interaction organised by Sony Sports Network.

He also commended the recent form of India’s bowling attack, noting key contributions from Sree Charani, Shafali Verma, Prema Rawat and Deepti Sharma, with the spinners taking 26 wickets in all. But Razdan highlighted that Smriti must play her own game rather than replicate Shafali’s approach.

So far, Shafali (168 runs) and Smriti (154 runs) have done the bulk of the scoring, with the rest of the batting order misfiring.

“The Indian team bowling line-up is very strong. You can talk about N Sree Charani, Shafali, or Deepti. All of them have been very strong in these games. But there is one thing that needs to be worked on — how do you bat in the powerplay?

“In the last game, Shafali scored a fifty against Bangladesh, but she survived three dropped catches and one run-out chance. Regarding Smriti Mandhana, it is very important for her to play for a long time. I don’t know why, but I feel that Smriti sometimes tries to be Shafali. That’s not her game.”

Razdan signed off by saying that establishing a solid platform without losing early wickets would allow India’s middle and lower order to finish strongly and set an insurmountable target for Sri Lanka on Dubai’s slow pitches.

“If you can play the powerplay without losing a wicket, you will be able to post a big score because all of this depends on the top four. We have some batters who can help you at the back end. But if you want to win the match and the final, I will have a special eye on someone to do it, and it will be Smriti Mandhana.”