"She has got to really lead the charge" - WV Raman lauds Smriti Mandhana's maiden Test hundred

WV Raman has lauded Smriti Mandhana for scoring her maiden Test century in the ongoing encounter against Australia and setting an example for the other batters to follow.

Mandhana played a 127-run knock during India's first innings of the pink-ball Test being played at the Carrara Oval. She stitched together a 93-run first-wicket partnership with Shafali Verma and followed it up with a century stand with Punam Raut for the second wicket.

During a discussion on Sony Sports, WV Raman was asked by Saba Karim if it was about time that Smriti Mandhana got to her first Test match hundred. He responded:

"Ya it was, because she has got to really lead the charge in a sort of way because she is very experienced, she has got a lot of international runs."

The former India coach pointed out that playing a lengthy Test match innings would have been an arduous task for Smriti Mandhana despite her exploits in the limited-overs format at the international level. Raman observed:

"But even for her, this would have been a little bit of a challenge because batting for 70-odd overs is something that she has not done before because they are all used to playing white-ball cricket."

Smriti Mandhana's 127 was studded with 22 boundaries and a solitary six, and came after a 216-ball vigil at the crease. It was also the first-ever Test century by a female Indian cricketer in Australia.

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"Smriti Mandhana has done a tremendous job out of it" - WV Raman

Smriti Mandhana was particularly harsh on the short-pitched deliveries bowled by the Australians

WV Raman highlighted that Smriti Mandhana played the dual role of not only giving India a rollicking start but also driving home the advantage. He explained:

"She has done a tremendous job out of it because not only has she dominated and provided a great start but she has also carried on batting on the second day, even though of course there has been a lot of play lost."

The former India opener signed off by stating that Smriti Mandhana showed the rest of the batters how to counter the Aussie attack. Raman said:

"That is collaring the attack, dominating and making it clear to the others in the dressing room that runs can be scored against this attack."

Team India were comfortably placed at a score of 231/3 at the dinner break on the second day. Although they lost Yastika Bhatia and Mithali Raj's wickets in the second session, they will hope to post a score beyond 400 runs and then put pressure on the Aussies.