Smriti Mandhana calls captaincy a huge honour, stresses responsibility

Raipur: Newly appointed Indian women’s cricket team captain Smriti Mandhana has described the six T20I matches scheduled to be played this year as crucial for the team ahead of the inaugural Women’s Champions Trophy in 2027.

Mandhana has taken over as captain across formats from Harmanpreet Kaur as Indian women’s cricket enters a new era. Her first assignment as full-time skipper will be to lead the Women in Blue in a three-match T20I series that begins on Friday. With India scheduled to play three more T20Is against South Africa before the Women’s Premier League (WPL) in January-February 2027, Mandhana considers these limited opportunities crucial for the team to identify the style of cricket it wants to play.

“In the T20 format, we have six matches before the Champions Trophy. Of course, the WPL will take place before that, but as an Indian team, we have three matches here and three against South Africa to take things forward.

“So, it’s going to be extremely important to see what style of cricket we want to play, what brand of cricket we want to play, and who’s fitting where. So, yeah, there will be a lot of takeaways from this series as well,” Mandhana said, as quoted by JioStar.

Mandhana also reflected on being named captain, describing it as a huge honour that she had never imagined receiving.

“Personally, it’s a huge honour to represent a country where cricket is almost a religion. In a way, you always start playing cricket to play and win matches for India.

“Never thought of leading the team, but again, it’s a big responsibility because when you step into this role, you have a job to do; you have to deliver. I always say this: though the captain’s name is first on the list, you’re always the last on the list in terms of keeping everyone ahead,” she added.

Mandhana also praised outgoing captain Harmanpreet Kaur, who led India for a long time, and highlighted the importance of her continued presence in guiding younger players.

“She’s led India, she’s the longest-serving captain, and has been such a great leader. So I’m sure that her experience, especially with a lot of youngsters coming into the team now, and the way she works towards the game, is going to be inspiring for a lot of people.

“And I hope they actually watch her, the way she goes about preparing for the game, and learn and take a lot of things from her. So, it’s going to be extremely important to have her around the youngsters so that they can learn from her and develop their game. Sometimes, that process begins a year or two earlier when you watch someone and start learning from them,” she added.

India are set to face Zimbabwe for the first time in international cricket in a three-match T20I series, followed by a three-match ODI series. Mandhana said she was looking forward to the challenge, adding that playing new teams was exciting.

“In the Asia Cup and Asian Games, we played against quite a few new opponents, and it’s always exciting to play new teams. We also learn a lot of things from them because they have a different approach. Because we play cricket almost all year round, sometimes we get very serious about cricket.

“But when you see these teams, they come out and, regardless of the result, they still go out there and enjoy themselves. So that’s something which we always try to learn from them as well. We don’t know a lot of players. We’ve watched a lot of videos of Zimbabwe players, but it’s quite exciting that it’s the first time. And having as many nations playing cricket is very good for the game going forward,” she said.