New Delhi: India's newly appointed women's cricket captain Smriti Mandhana said the full-time leadership role would not be an entirely new challenge for her, given her nearly decade-long experience as vice-captain, and expressed confidence that the additional responsibility would not affect her batting approach.
Mandhana was appointed captain of the Indian women's team earlier this month, on the same day Harmanpreet Kaur stepped down from the role. The 29-year-old, who has been part of the Indian team since 2013, will lead the side in white-ball cricket going forward.
“I have been the vice-captain for the last almost 10 years. So, I have been part of the leadership role, and I wouldn’t say it is an extremely new thing. But for sure, it is something to look forward to, and hopefully, I can do justice to the role,” Mandhana told reporters on Wednesday.
The left-handed batter also stressed that captaincy would not change the way she approaches her innings, adding that she would continue to play according to the team's requirements and trust her instincts.
“I have become a captain on the field; there should be no changes in my batting. My coach used to tell me when I was 15 years old, ‘Whenever you bat, always think you are the captain. You always take that responsibility, and those things have never changed. If the ball is in the zone, I will still go for it. I will still play whatever (way) the team needs (me to),” she said.
Calling the series an exciting opportunity, Mandhana said India would also look to learn from their opponents while using the matches to establish their approach ahead of the upcoming Champions Trophy.
“The first bilateral (series) with Zimbabwe, I think, is very exciting. It is our first time playing with them. Sometimes, playing with Zimbabwe and all the Associate nations, it feels like you can learn a lot from them as well because they enjoy playing their cricket,” she said.
“Sometimes, we get into a lot of things professionally. You can learn a lot from them. But again, we have six T20 matches before the Champions Trophy as an Indian team, so we will look to set standards as an Indian team (as to) how we approach the next three months leading up to the Champions Trophy,” Mandhana added.
Mandhana enjoyed an outstanding 2025, finishing as the second-highest run-scorer at the Women's ODI World Cup with 434 runs. She also became the first Indian woman to score international centuries in all three formats when she registered a T20I hundred against England in June 2025. (IANS)
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