Mansi hits right notes for India
Enjoying a dream run, Mithali Raj team will look to make it four out of four vs Sri Lanka
High on confidence after three wins on the trot, India would look to continue their unbeaten streak and take another step towards a semifinal berth when they face a lowly Sri Lanka in the ICC Women’s World Cup, here on Wednesday.
The Indians, enjoying good run, would certainly start as overwhelming favourites against Sri Lanka, who have looked below par in the tournament so far with three defeats from as many matches.
If there’s anything called momentum in cricket, it is with the Indian team at the moment.
“We definitely will look into the fact that we don’t lose wickets back-to-back because that puts a lot of pressure on the incoming batters as well as the team. We need to work on our partnerships,” India skipper Mithali Raj said.
TO FURTHER HER CRICKET DREAMS MANSI HAD TO SHIFT BASE TO HARYANA IN 2010 AS UTTARAKHAND DIDN’T HAVE A WOMEN’S CRICKET TEAM.
“In terms of bowling, the spinners have been doing well, (against Pakistan) the pacers looked better than the last two games so it depends which wicket we play on against Sri Lanka.
If it’s a fresh wicket, then we have different plans for it,” she added.
Having comprehensively won last four ODI series --- whitewashing Sri Lanka and the West Indies at home before beating South Africa in the finals of the World Cup qualifier as well as the quadrangular series --besides three wins in the round robin stage of the ongoing event, the India women would not want to lose the rhythm at any cost.
India made a dream start to the tournament by stunning hosts England by 35 runs before trouncing West Indies by seven wickets in their next encounter, while their 95-run win over
Pakistan in the last match has only helped them grow in confidence.
Having six points from three A few days before she left for England, Indian pacer Mansi Joshi queued up outside a cinema in Dehradun to watch a movie she had been eagerly waiting for.
After all, “Sachin: Billion Dreams” was based on her favourite cricketer, Sachin Tendulkar, and she couldn’t miss it, especially coming ahead of the Women’s World Cup.
Inspired by the flick, Mansi wanted to make India proud like Tendulkar had. And on Sunday, the 23-year-old got a chance to play in her first World Cup game, that too against Pakistan, and the lanky quick grabbed the chance with a fine spell of 6.1 overs conceding just nine runs, bowling two maidens and bagging two wickets.
To further her cricket dreams Mansi had to shift base to Haryana in 2010 as Uttarakhand didn’t have a women’s cricket team. And she delivered at the biggest stage in the game in Derby, removing Asmavia Iqbal for nought and yorked Pakistan captain Sana Mir to help clinch a 95-run win.
“Mansi was spot on against Pakistan. She bowled the outswingers, off-cutters and also the yorkers. She is a tremendous bowler who likes to bowl aggressively, at good pace. With Jhulan (Goswami) and Shikha Pandey in the team, it becomes a bit difficult for Mansi to get a look in. But given the chance, she made full use of it. I hope she is retained in the upcoming matches too,” said Mansi’s coach, Virender Singh Rautela.
Mansi had been included in the playing XI in place of Shikha Pandey. India, having won their first three matches, take on Sri Lanka in Derby on Wednesday.
Rautela has played a big part in guiding Mansi. Although she plays for Haryana, when in her hometown, she trains under Rautela at Dehradun’s St Joseph’s Cricket Academy.
Until a few years back, she hardly batted, but Rautela worked on her strengthening and helped improve her batting. This has helped Mansi crank up pace, and also open for Haryana.
“She always had an impressive build, but needed to build muscles and add pace. She would train for hours every day and take a lot of protein (mutton, dates, milk, boiled eggs, chicken soup). The results were amazing,” said Rautela.