Smriti Mandhana states power hitting adding a new dimension to her game
Smriti Mandhana, the man of the tournament in the Kia Super League in England, has stated that power hitting is the new addition to her playing style and has taken her game to the next level. She has shown that even Indian women can hit sixes effortlessly and frequently like other players.
After nine sixes in the first five years of her international career, Mandhana took the tally to 30 in five months this year. Of them, 21 came in 10 Kia Women’s Super League games in a space of three weeks. Western Storm missed Mandhana, who returned to India after the first round for a national camp, in their nine-run loss to Surrey Stars in the semi-finals, but the season will be remembered for her table-topping 421 runs that earned her the player of the tournament award.
It was a result of a slightly open stance, changed grip, and old-fashioned practice. Even as the country celebrated the 2017 World Cup runners-up finish, Mandhana absorbed the lessons of a dramatic dip in form and worked towards plugging the gaps ahead of the 2018 World T20, which begins in the Caribbean on November 9.
Speaking about the transformation, Mandhana said she worked very hard for eight months to improve her strength and the ability to clear the ground easily. She said her personal coach Anant Tambvekar used to give her
“Earlier I did not have the power to clear the rope and I used to deal in boundaries rather than sixes. Playing the lofted shot straight over the bowler’s head was not really my strength,” Mandhana told CricketNext.
“I am lucky that my coach is an all-rounder. He can bowl off-spin, leg-spin
Biju George, India’s fielding coach who was formerly with Kolkata Knight Riders, also improved the bat swing of the players earlier this year by making them bat against the TAP conditioning balls from Australia. Speaking of which, Biju said the balls are very heavy and thus in order to hit a lofted shot, the player has to middle it and hold his/her shape very well.
“It’s a very heavy ball. When you hit that ball, it stays on the bat for a longer duration. So, you have to hold the shape of your shot and you have to go through your body motion fully or else the ball won’t clear. It will drop next to you, no matter how hard you hit it. After that when you hit the cricket ball, it goes the distance,” Biju said.
Speaking about the upcoming World T20, Mandhana said the KSL brilliance has helped her in a lot of ways but both the tournaments are different and she is looking forward to starting on a fresh note.
“Obviously KSL will give the confidence that I can bat with a certain strike-rate when we are chasing 180-plus scores. I can now back myself to help the team get to the target, but beyond that KSL and World T20 are two different challenges. Sometimes confidence can turn into overconfidence, so it’s better to start every tournament new,” Mandhana added.