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Cricket PlayersIndia's bowling coach provides huge update on Smriti Mandhana's fitness ahead of Women's T20 World Cup match vs WI
Smriti Mandhana was forced to miss India's opening match of the Women's T20 World Cup match against Pakistan with an injury.
Team India's star batter Smriti Mandhana had missed the opening match of the Women's T20 World Cup against Pakistan with a finger injury. Mandhana's unavailability for the game was hinted a day before the India's opener against arch-rivals Pakistan during a pre-match press conference. However, ahead of the side's second game against West Indies, bowling coach Troy Cooley sounded optimistic about Mandhana making a comeback to the side.
When asked about Mandhana's fitness update, Cooley stated that the left-handed batter had been working hard in the training sessions and seemed “pretty confident.”
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"She has been working very hard and she will be assessed after training," Cooley said as quoted by ICC.
"She did everything that needed to be done and we are pretty confident she got through the session OK," added the coach.
India and West Indies will be locking horns in their Group 2 clash of the tournament in Cape Town on Wednesday. India is in second place in the points tally with one win in one match and two points, below England, which has two wins in two and a total of four points.
Jemimah Rodrigues stepped up in Mandhana's absence against Pakistan, firing an unbeaten 53 from 38 deliveries to guide her side past their arch-rivals with an over to spare.
Cooley was delighted to start on the front foot and had reassuring words for Deepti Sharma, who saw her four overs cost 39 in Sunday's contest.
"She bowled three overs in the powerplay and one at the death with three fielders out. We know those are high-pressure situations but who better to give the ball to than someone like Deepti? She is an exceptional player," said Cooley.
"The girls are very good at reviewing their own performances and they are very open to input. Deepti is one of our key players and she will go for a few runs some days, that is the nature of T20, but she bowled in high-pressure situations and we believe she did a good job," added the coach.
