'I'll be thinking about it' - Smriti Mandhana mulls pulling out of WBBL to focus on fitness for India games

Smriti Mandhana, the vice-captain of India, is considering withdrawing from the Women's Big Bash League (WBBL) in order to manage her workload and stay in shape for her international obligations. Mandhana has been playing back-to-back cricket, and with her focus being on playing for the national side, she does not want to take a risk with her health in the coming times.

On the ongoing England tour, Mandhana’s batting prowess helped India level the T20I series at 1-1 and the two teams will now be locking horns in the decider at Bristol, before starting with the three-match ODI series. The WBBL 2022-23 is scheduled to start on October 13, but Mandhana is thinking about skipping the competition to avoid missing any India matches because of any unforeseen fitness constraints.

“I think more than the mental part, it's about managing a little bit of physical part. Definitely, I'll be thinking about pulling out of WBBL because I don't want to miss out on playing for India or having any niggles when I play for India because I want to give my 100% when I play international cricket. So definitely I'll be thinking about playing or pulling out of Big Bash,” Mandhana said in a press conference before the second T20I against England.

A hectic year so far for Mandhana

The year 2022 for Mandhana began in February with a tour of New Zealand comprising of five ODIs, ahead of the ODI World Cup in the same nation in March. Mandhana and the other members of the team then played the Women’s T20 Challenger Trophy, a three-team tournament comprising four games, including the finals.

She was then a part of the Indian side during the Sri Lanka tour and played all three T20Is and ODIs. The Indian team then traveled to the UK for the Commonwealth Games and bagged a silver medal at the historic event. Mandhana stayed back to participate in The Hundred 2022 and represented runners-up team Southern Brave before getting back to international cricket for the ongoing series.

“I have been on the road for a while now. Post the one-day World Cup, I have been on the road with the domestic and the tournaments you mentioned [the Sri Lanka tour, the Commonwealth Games, the Women's Hundred]. I just try to tell myself that because of Covid we haven't really played a lot of cricket and we really hoped that we came back and start playing cricket,” she added.

“And now I can't be complaining that we have a lot of cricket on the platter. As woman players, we always wanted this sort of schedule for us. I'm really happy to be playing so much cricket and I've had my family over like my mom is over here and she was here for the Hundred as well. So that also helps to be in a good mindset and the teammates have been just amazing. It feels like we're a family together,” she further stated.