Mumbai: Playing in a tri-nation tournament before the Women’s World T20 will help in planning and team composition, senior India player Smriti Mandhana said Wednesday.
The marquee event will start in Australia next month but before that, the country is hosting India and England in a tri-series.
“Most of them have played in Australia, I think India A touring Australia last month is also going to be a big help (as) four-five players were part of that team as well,” Mandhana told reporters here.
“The tri-series is going to be a really important tournament, thinking about the team composition or what is needed or what target we need to aim at on Australian wickets,” the left-handed batswoman added while attending a promotional event here.
Mandhana asserted that the tri-series matches could tell them a lot about what will be a safe target during the World Cup.
“How can our bowlers plan better, all those things we are going to understand once we land in Australia and play the tri-series. Especially the targets, tri-series will define the targets, like what the scoreline will be safe for the World Cup,” informed Mandhana.
“England, Australia and India tri-series is always going (to be challenging). We are going to aim at good targets so I think that (tri-series) is an important tournament leading up to the World Cup,” the 23-year-old asserted.
According to Mandhana, the team have been planning about the WorldT20 for the past one year.
“Last one year, whatever we were doing during the matches, we were thinking about the World Cup, so finally we are leaving for the World Cup, it is quite exciting,” Mandhana said with a smile.
“I’m looking forward to playing this World Cup with this team as we a fresh blend of experienced and new players,” she added.
PTI