Mandhana will contemplate leaving the Women’s Big Bash League as she doest want to miss out on playing for India

Smriti Mandhana, India’s vice-captain, is considering withdrawing from the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) to manage her workload and avoid injuries and niggles in order to stay fit for international commitments.

Mandhana has been on the road since the ODI World Cup, taking in the Senior T20 league, the Sri Lanka tour, the Commonwealth Games, The Hundred, and the current England tour. The Asia Cup begins on October 1, followed by the senior T20 league and a T20I series against Australia at home in December before heading to South Africa for a tri-series against the hosts and the West Indies before the World Cup. With the WBBL also scheduled to begin in October-November, she could be away from home for another six months if she travels to Australia.

The opener is currently participating in international white-ball games against England, which began on September 10 with a T20I series. Given the volume of cricket, she believes that managing the physical aspect is critical.

“I’ve been on the road since the World Cup ended. But I just tried to convince myself that we couldn’t play much cricket because of Covid. We were hoping to return and play a lot of cricket. I can’t complain about not having a lot of cricket on the table,” Mandhana told reporters on Monday.

“As female cricketers, we have always desired a schedule like this. However, managing the physical aspect is more important than the mental aspect. I’ll definitely consider withdrawing from the WBBL because I don’t want to miss out on playing for India due to any injuries,” she added.

Competitions like The Hundred and the WBBL, according to the left-handed batter, have helped Australia and England strengthen their reserves, and she is hopeful that India will do the same in the future.

“It would be very beneficial if something similar happened in Indian cricket,” she added. “The Hundred and Big Bash have been fantastic tournaments for their respective countries as well as for the outside players; we learn a lot as well, but these tournaments also add a lot to their bench strength.”

On Saturday, England defeated India by nine wickets to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match T20I series. India’s vice-captain expressed disappointment with the loss, adding that her team hoped to fight back harder in the remaining games of the series.

“As a team, we didn’t play the brand of cricket we have played in the last few months, so we were completely disappointed (after the first T20I loss), but we just took it as one bad day and we know that we have to come back tougher and match the benchmarks we have set for ourselves and our team,” Mandhana said.