Mandhana praises Raghvi, Richa as India win home T20I series after 5 years

India’s stand-in captain, Smriti Mandhana, praised youngsters Richa Ghosh and Raghvi Bist as India beat West Indies women by 60 runs on December 19 (Thursday) to win their first T20I series at home after five years.

“After the last match, I told the girls it has been five years since we won a T20I series. That does not reflect the team we are. I told them that today, we have an opportunity to do that, and we just want to keep doing the right things,” Mandhana said at the post-match presentation ceremony.  

Mandhana, who scored 77 off 46 balls as India put on their highest-ever T20I total on the board, also expressed the reasoning behind how she batted, which was cautious at the start and then blistering at the end.

“The batting line-up we had, a few youngsters were coming in, so there was a bit of added responsibility and that kind of thing goes well if you put your head into it, and when I do that, I probably bat better. We lost all three tosses, so had to bat first, which is the harder thing to do,” she said.  

Lauding the youngsters for their batting approach, Mandhana said, “Loved the way Richa batted. The girls stepped up beautifully. The way Raghvi batted was impressive. She came in with lots of intent and hit her fourth or fifth ball for six, I would not have been able to do that in my second match.

Richa's innings were also amazing, as it was the other day, but I could not appreciate that, unfortunately, because of the result.”