London, July 10 (IANS) India vice-captain Smriti Mandhana expressed immense pride on reaching the landmark of 300 international appearances through the first-ever women’s Test at the historic Lord’s Cricket Ground, saying that she couldn’t have asked for a better venue to mark this occasion.

At 29 years and 357 days old, Mandhana has also become the youngest woman in the history of cricket to achieve the feat, and got it faster than South Africa’s Sune Luus (30y 163d) and Australia’s Ellyse Perry (33y 65d). The left-handed opener is also the 12th woman overall to feature in 300 international matches.

“I actually got to know about the 300th international match last night. As a player, you don’t really keep track of games across all formats. I remember playing the 2017 World Cup final here at Lord’s.

“I didn’t have a great World Cup then, and I didn’t know if I’d get the chance to play for India again. So to come back and play my 300th international match at Lord’s, I couldn’t ask for a better venue,” said Smriti in a pre-game chat with the broadcasters.

She also emphasised on the need to move forward after India had a disappointing T20 World Cup campaign. “We had a chance at Lord’s to qualify against Australia (in the T20 World Cup). We couldn’t take that opportunity, but that’s cricket. You have to keep moving on.

“Whether you get a hundred or a zero, every time you go out there, you start your innings from zero. It’s the same with the team. You’re going to have good days and bad days, but we’ll always take it in stride and try to give our best for the country,” said Smriti.

Detailing with the transition to red-ball cricket and her preparation, Smriti added, “Batting for long periods definitely helps, especially since we don’t play a lot of Test cricket. We did play the pink-ball Test in Perth before. Going back to Wormsley was great. I hadn’t been there since 2014, so it brought back old memories.

“For me, the preparation is about adjusting after opening in T20 cricket, where you’re expected to score quickly at a high strike rate. In red-ball cricket, you need to watch the ball carefully. Going back to basics is very important. The preparation was all about doing the basic things right and spending long periods at the crease.”

–IANS

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