The former coach of the Indian national women’s cricket team WV Raman thinks that Smriti Mandhana will be the ideal choice for India captaincy after the ODI World Cup next year, irrespective of how India fares in that tournament. Currently, Mithali Raj is the captain of the Indian team in ODIs, while Harmanpreet Kaur is in charge of the T20Is.
Mithali was leading the Indian team in the last ODI World Cup in England as well and India had performed brilliantly in that tournament, reaching the final. Even in the final match where they eventually lost to the hosts England, India seemed to be in a very strong position while chasing the target before they lost their way.
India has performed well in T20I cricket under Harmanpreet Kaur
India’s performance under Harmanpreet in T20I cricket has been outstanding as well, as they made to the final of the last T20 World Cup before eventually losing to Australia. India hadn’t lost a single game in that tournament before the final, and it was a heartbreaking loss not just for the players, but for the fans as well who had turned up to watch the final in large numbers.
WV Raman, who was actually the coach of the Indian team in that T20 World Cup in Australia, reckons that the time has come for Smriti Mandhana to take over the India captaincy as she has got all the qualities to be a good leader, and she can do the job for a long time.
According to Raman, Smriti Mandhana has got enough experience now as she has played a decent number of games, and she has also got good game awareness.
“Captaincy has got nothing to do with age, but I am convinced that Mandhana can be the captain. She is a good reader of the game and has already played few years of cricket. It can be a good time and giving captaincy to a younger cricketer means they can lead the side for a stretch for some years,” Raman was quoted as saying by PTI.
