India vice-captain Smriti Mandhana said every innings in cricket begins from scratch and past performances do not guarantee future success, stressing the need for a balanced mindset across formats.
“In cricket, you have to start from zero. The scoreboard is always zero for zero. It’s never what you’ve done in the last match or previous series,” Mandhana said in a video shared by the BCCI. She explained that expectations differ across formats, with T20 cricket demanding a different mental approach compared to ODIs and Tests.
“T20 is slightly in a way where you can’t be extremely hard on yourself after getting out because you’re playing at a pace where there are days when it’ll come off and days when it won’t,” she said. “I’m really tough on myself with one-day cricket and Test cricket because you have a lot of time. If you get out there, it feels like a sin for me.”
Mandhana added that while individual brilliance can win matches on certain days, players must also accept failures without overthinking. “There are days when you win the match for the country, but there are days when you won’t be able to get runs. You have to take both at your stride because you can’t overthink. It’s just quick turnover,” she said.
Reflecting on India’s recent ODI World Cup triumph, Mandhana cautioned against dwelling too much on past success, describing the team as a work in progress. “The One Day World Cup was the biggest thing for women’s cricket, and we did tick that one off, so it’s a big win. But you can’t be thinking only about successes,” she said.
The senior batter acknowledged that the team had missed opportunities during the year and said consistent improvement remained the focus. “We’ve had times when we could have won matches, but we couldn’t. This team being this young, we are always a work in progress,” Mandhana said, adding that she would rate the team’s overall performance this year at “seven out of ten”.
Thanking fans for their unwavering support, particularly during and after the ODI World Cup, Mandhana said the team aims to continue evolving. “It’s been a fantastic year for women’s cricket. I hope we keep making the fans proud and that they keep turning up to support us,” she said.