Raipur: India's newly appointed captain Smriti Mandhana wants to raise the team's professionalism, power-hitting and fielding standards while establishing a strong team culture as it begins a new era with a three-match T20I series against Zimbabwe on October 16.
India will face Zimbabwe for the first time in international cricket, with the series also providing Mandhana with an opportunity to lay the groundwork for the team's preparations for the ICC Women's Champions Trophy 2027 at home.
"I have a job to do, I have to deliver. I always say this, that though the captain's name is first on the list, you're always the last on the list in terms of keeping everyone ahead," Mandhana said on JioStar's show 'Follow the Blues: The Dawn of Captain Smriti'.
"I've been in the leadership group for a while now, but I definitely had written down a roadmap every time. The first thing which comes to my mind is the professionalism around it and trying to have this team go about things like a well-oiled machine." "Like, taking our training, power-hitting, fielding and professionalism one notch higher. And, of course, setting a culture," she added.
Mandhana, who takes over the captaincy as India look to build towards the next major international assignment, said she viewed the role as an opportunity to establish standards that future generations of players could follow. "You always take up this role to leave it in a way where you set a culture for the team, for the rest of the girls to follow. So, you don't just do this for the sake of it," she said.
The left-handed batter also underlined the importance of former captain Harmanpreet Kaur's presence in the dressing room, particularly with several young players coming into the side. "She's led India, she's the longest-serving captain, and has been such a great leader. So I'm sure that her experience, especially with a lot of youngsters coming into the team now, and the way she works towards the game, is going to be inspiring for a lot of people," Mandhana said.
"I hope they actually watch her, the way she goes about preparing for the game, and learn and take a lot of things from her." Mandhana also backed Shafali Verma, who has been named her deputy in the T20I side, praising the opener's development as a batter and her growing sense of responsibility.
"The way she dominated Australian bowlers, we all were like, 'Wow, she's some player.' But to see her in the last six to 12 months, the kind of responsibility she's taken as a batter, not only in the first six overs but after that, the way she's built her innings in the middle overs, especially in the Asia Cup and Asian Games, has been outstanding," she said.
"The way she showed maturity, I'm really, really happy for her, and I hope we both can take this team forward."
India have six T20I matches, including the three against Zimbabwe and three against South Africa, before the Champions Trophy, apart from the Women's Premier League (WPL). Mandhana said the upcoming fixtures would be important in determining the team's preferred style of play and the roles of individual players. "It's going to be extremely important to see what style of cricket you want to play, what brand of cricket you want to play, and who's fitting where. So yeah, there will be a lot of takeaways from this series as well," she said.
On facing Zimbabwe for the first time, Mandhana said playing against unfamiliar opponents could offer valuable lessons while also helping the game expand to more nations. "We don't know a lot of players. We've watched a lot of videos of Zimbabwe players, but it's quite exciting that it's the first time," she said.
"In the Asia Cup and Asian Games, we played against quite a few new opponents, and it's always exciting to play new teams. We also learn a lot of things from them in a way because they have a different approach." Mandhana added that watching teams enjoy their cricket regardless of results was a useful reminder for India's players.
"Because we play cricket almost all year round, sometimes we get very serious about cricket. But when you see these teams, they come out and, regardless of the result, they still go out there and enjoy themselves. So that's something which we always try to learn from them as well," she said. "Having as many nations playing cricket is very good for the game going forward," she added.