There’s something quite humbling about leaders baring themselves to their loyalists. Ahead of a key Group A encounter between India and Sri Lanka on Wednesday, vice-captain Smriti Mandhana and captain Chamari Athapaththu did just that.
“I would love to ask them (Sri Lanka supporters) to come and watch, I don’t think I can say that they are happy. They had a lot of expectations from the team and me. They probably thought we’d play the semifinals this year. I don’t think we have time to do that, we have two matches,” Athapaththu said here on Tuesday.
Sri Lanka has two losses in two games and finds itself at the bottom of the pile with an abysmal net run rate of -1.667.
“This will be a valuable match for me. I have to challenge myself to handle the pressure. I take on the challenge. Let’s see what my team and I can do,” she added.
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In 26 T20Is between the two sides, Sri Lanka has only triumphed five times. The latest of those wins came two and a half months ago at the Women’s Asia Cup in Dambulla. It was a match to savour for the Lankans. Chamari’s mother – who has been unwell for a while – watched her daughter bring home a maiden Asia Cup title for her nation from the players’ box. An Indian side that was looking undeniable, was denied in some style in that eight-wicket loss.
In the two group games Sri Lanka has played, the team has not managed to cross a team score of 100. Athapaththu’s low scores (6 off 9 balls vs Pakistan and 3 off 12 balls vs Australia) set the tone for two spectacular collapses. It’s taken some of the shine off what has been an aggressive shift from the bowling line-up. Against India, Athapaththu has her targets set.
“I think Shafali Verma, Smriti Mandhana and Richa Ghosh are struggling a bit due to the low bounce and pace. Jemimah Rodrigues is good on these tracks compared to the others. Harmanpreet Kaur adapted well in the last game. We have some plans for them and have to execute them well,” she said.
The India skipper opted to miss training ahead of the game after a bizarre neck injury in the dying moments of the Pakistan game. Smriti revealed that she is fit to play on Wednesday, a shot in the arm for India, which now needs every foot soldier available to break down the doors to the knockouts. Pooja Vastrakar, meanwhile, remains a question mark with Smriti saying a final call will be taken at the toss.
She also underlined that India’s focus is on the win and the two points and then the Net Run Rate.
“Against Pakistan, I started off fine but consumed a few dot balls which was a bit irritating for me. As batters, we need to be really smart. We can’t go out there thinking we are going to take on this bowling line-up and cruise. Outfield and the conditions are challenging. We should keep the NRR in mind but first of course is the win,” she said.
Dubai’s tracks have not been as sluggish as Sharjah’s as we’ve seen South Africa and New Zealand ease out with the bat, particularly when the sun starts going down. India will do well to be wary of a Sri Lankan side that, as Athapaththu says, has nothing to lose.
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