Harmanpreet Kaur puts Smriti Mandhana’s KSL brilliance down to ‘freedom to swing bat’

In her maiden KSL season, Mandhana smacked 421 runs in nine innings, which is the most runs by a player in a women’s T20 league anywhere in the world. The previous best belonged to Australia captain Meg Lanning for scoring 405 runs at the inaugural Women’s Big Bash in 2015-16. While Mandhana herself admitted she did not expect to be so prolific, Kaur, who debuted in the same year as Mandhana in both the WBBL and the KSL, put her countrywoman’s performance down to the freedom to swing her bat.

“Smriti is someone in the Indian side I discuss a lot of cricket with. When I met her in the UK, she said her team, Western Storm, had given her the freedom to swing her bat. And it was clear she was enjoying herself,” Kaur told ESPNcricinfo.

Among the many casualties that the Mandhana juggernaut claimed in the KSL was Kaur’s own side, which lost both their home and away games to Storm. While Harmanpreet announced her belated arrival in the tournament with a scintillating 21-ball 34 not out on debut, Mandhana outshone her captain’s effort with a maiden T20 ton. Kaur further said Mandhana’s ton was one of the best innings she had seen her deputy play. 

“That was one of the best innings I’ve seen her play. She was looking very confident and you could see that in her strokeplay. That’s what you need in a player. Confidence and flow comes from that freedom,” she added.

A preparatory camp in Chennai, starting August 30, would bring the Indian team together after nearly three months without international cricket. In that time, the team had a change of coach and one of their most senior players had retired from T20Is. With the World T20 coming up in November, Kaur hoped both she and her vice-captain would continue their form in the Indian jersey.

“Smriti performed immensely well in the KSL, touchwood. And I hope she is able to take that forward into the next series and then into the World T20. Whether it’s Smriti or me or someone else in the team, individual performances only count when they contribute to the team’s victories,” Kaur concluded.