Women's 20-20 World Cup 2023: Major update on Smriti Mandhana's availability for West Indies game

India will play their second match of the Women’s 20-20 World Cup 2023 against West Indies on Wednesday, February 15 at the Newlands ground in Cape Town. The Women in Blue will look to continue their winning run as they defeated arch-rivals Pakistan by 7 wickets in their first match.

Meanwhile, Team India's vice-captain Smriti Mandhana is likely to return in the big clash. She could not play against Pakistan in the first match due to an injury.

The left-handed opener is currently out of form as her performance in the recently concluded triangular T20 series played between South Africa, India, and West Indies was not special. During this, she played 5 matches in which she scored just 86 runs. In four of the last five T20 matches, she was not even able to reach double digits. However, India’s bowling coach Troy Cooley believes that Mandhana will recover ahead of the second match and will do well.

“I think, yeah, she (Mandhana) has been working very hard. And I think from today, it'll obviously be assessed after today, but she did everything she needed to be done today. And I think, yeah, from us, we look at how she pulls up. But we're pretty confident that she got through the session today and did everything she needed to do,” said Cooley as quoted by ESPNCricinfo.

We let things go as much as we can: Troy Cooley

Meanwhile, India’s star and currently one of the best all-rounders of the world, Deepti Sharma couldn’t perform well in the first match as she conceded 39 runs and picked only 1 wicket in her 4-over quota. However, Cooley has backed the star all-rounder and said that she is an exceptional player.

“Well, as you know, she (Deepti) is an exceptional player and she bowled three overs in the powerplay, one at the death with three fielders out. So, we know that those are high-pressure times, but you know, who better to give the ball to than someone like Deepti?

The conversations are really, you know, did you bowl the ball you want? Did you have the field you wanted? And away you go. So, you know, we let things go as much as we can, but the girls are very good at reviewing their own performances,” he added.