Pooja Vastrakar is a key member of the Indian team, according to vice captain Smriti Mandhana, as the world prepares for the Women’s T20 World Cup in Bangladesh in 2024. Everyone’s attention has been drawn to the 24-year-old pacer by her recent performance against South Africa, which bodes well for the future of Indian women’s cricket.
Vastrakar’s latest T20I encounter against South Africa offered the ideal platform for her to showcase her abilities. Vastrakar took an impressive eight wickets, including a brilliant four-wicket haul in the final match. His contributions were crucial to India’s 10-wicket win, which levelled the series at one.
In addition to raising team spirit, this performance demonstrated Vastrakar’s ability to be a disruptive force in the next World Cup. Vastrakar’s steady performance impressed Mandhana, who voiced her faith in the youthful pacer.
“It’s incredible that she came with such figures because the wickets were flat in the first two matches. We hope she continues on her current path and proves to be an important player for us in the World Cup. She has amazing ball skills. We’ve all had a lengthy series, so as a bowler, I’m curious how she managed to continue without being weary. News18 cited Mandhana as saying.
We had faith in her before the series began: Smriti Mandhana
Notably, Smriti Mandhana had already taken notice of Pooja Vastrakar’s performance during the five-match T20I series in Bangladesh earlier this year, where she bagged five wickets. The National Cricket Academy’s pre-series camp is credited in part for the team’s victory over South Africa. The team’s capacity to adapt to different forms was enhanced by the opportunity to practise a range of scenarios throughout preparation. Mandhana stressed the value of putting in a lot of effort behind the scenes.
“I found it difficult to see the ball when she was running in so quickly, even in the Bangladesh T20I series. Her bowling style was particularly effective during the death overs.” We were aware that she had improved over the previous few months in her bowling technique. We have faith in her going into the series,” Mandhana added.
“We had a great effort at the NCA during the hitters’ camp prior to the series. You benefit from the number of hours spent in the bat camp. Having rehearsed those situations in preseason, every player was prepared to play and bat in every format throughout the series. I think it’s important to work hard even when no one else is there, and that’s what helped the team and me win this series,” she said.
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