Women's head coach Raman keen on improving Mandhana's 'patience'

Head coach W V Raman has set her targets to bat for a specific number of overs to develop her patience at the crease

India women's team opener Smriti Mandhana is enjoying the purple patch in her carrier. She led the batting charts with 376 runs (196 runs in 3 ODIs and 180 runs in as many T20Is) in the recently concluded New Zealand tour. Following her promising run, she not only jumped up in the ICC rankings but also bagged the Sportstar’s Woman Cricketer of the year award.

Amid her top form, Mandhana on Friday stated that head coach WV Raman is aiming to turn her more patient while batting. Raman has set her targets to bat for a specific number of overs to develop her restraint.

“He (Raman) has been telling me to play 30 overs in ODIs as he knows that if I bat till 30 overs, I will continue to bat. And in 20 over games he has been telling me to bat for 13 overs,” Mandhana said.

“He's giving me targets to bat a certain number of balls, because strike rate and those kinds of things never concern me, the only problem is the patience aspect. He is helping with that and giving me targets to bat through these many balls and that many overs and that is being great,” she added.

Mandhana, asked specifically whether the team was too dependent on her, replied that the perception was not correct.

“No, I don't think so. We have got a lot of match-winners in our team. It is just that sometimes someone goes through a lean patch and you need to cover up for your teammate. And sometimes that would be the case, if I am not going, the middle order will look after me (help me).

During last year's women's T20 tri-series, Mandhana had said that she was throwing her wicket away after setting herself in. Eleven months later, she feels that she is being able to improve 10 per cent on this aspect, but the next aim was to carry on batting till the end of the innings.

“Somewhat, yes, maybe 10 per cent I have improved on that. From 50 to 60s, I have gone to 70s. But I'm still leaving 20-30 runs when we are chasing. I think it will be good if I come back not out. Hopefully, I can do that against England in the (upcoming) ODI and the T20 series,” she said.

The ODI series against England starts Friday next and all the three matches in the 50-over rubber will be played at the Wankhede Stadium here.