Smriti Mandhana is the best left-hander I've ever seen: Amol Muzumdar

MUMBAI: At a time when she has just gone through turmoil in her personal turmoil after calling off her wedding, Smriti Mandhana would perhaps be heartened by the fact that the Indian women's team's head coach Amol Muzumdar too is a huge fan of her fabulous batting skills.

At a function to felicitate him at the Bombay Gymkhana on Monday evening, Muzumdar, who coached India to their maiden ODI World Cup win in Nov, confessed that he was a big fan of Mandhana, known for her prowess on the off-side.



"Smriti is the best left-hander I've ever seen. Her cover drive is beautiful, elegant. There's a touch of class in her cover drive," Muzumdar said, showering praise on India's vice-captain and superstar batter.

The Mumbaikar admitted that he endured "sleepless nights" before India's must-win match against New Zealand at the DY Patil Stadium- a match which India won by 53 runs (via the DLD method) to survive in the World Cup. Terming it as India's "turning point" of the tournament. "I think that the New Zealand game gave me more... Before the New Zealand game, there were a couple of sleepless nights. Because that was a must-win game. It was like a quarter-final. So if we win the game, we're getting into the semi-finals," he said.

He termed Jemimah Rodrigues' match-winning 127-run knock in the semifinals as "phenomenal."

"We as a team always believed that if we had to win the World Cup, we'd have to beat Australia somewhere down the line. Either in the semi-finals or in the finals. So, we were all geared up for that game. There was no doubt about it. But Jemima's knock was a phenomenal knock," he complimented.

Muzumdar admitted that as the head coach of the team, he did have some stern words to say to the team after they lost to England from a winning position at Indore to suffer their third consecutive defeat during the World Cup. "There are times when you leave it for another day, to get a picture of certain things. There are times when you speak as a coach. When as a coach, you have to make the decision and tell them there and then what had happened, and I decided for the latter. You have to press on the nerve that's hurting. If it hurts, then we perform better," he said.

Muzumdar said that he imbibed in the players a sense of "accountability," something that he learnt from the coaches that he played under in Mumbai. "All that I learnt from every coach that I played under in Mumbai and I grabbed a few things from each coach.. and I think it was about accountability for players. And I still have inculcated that in this Indian women's team that you've got to be accountable for your own performances and your team's performance, the players are responsible and accountable for it. So I think it's been an incredible journey for the last two years, seeing this Indian women's team lift the World Cup," he said.

He explained that the decision to drop middle-order batter Jemimah Rodrigues for a few matches during the tournament was taken in the team's interest. "About the picking and dropping of players, it's a simple golden rule for me that if it is a cricketing decision, I'll go ahead and do it. It's always been team first. That's been the culture of Mumbai cricket where I've grown. The Maidan cricket which have given me my lessons, my cricketing lessons. If it's a cricketing decision, then you go ahead and do it and be firm on that decision," he said.

Muzumdar, who has coached at the Rajasthan Royals and was the head of the Mumbai men's team in the past, felt that it was easier to "handle" the women's team in comparison to the men's side. "I felt handling the men's team is much more difficult than handling the women's team. And these are incredible, skillful players in this Indian women's cricket team at the moment. Not just that, but they are terrific human beings. And that is what has brought the success to this team. And honestly speaking, in the last two years, it's been a great education for me, being around with these girls," he gushed.

Hailing the camaraderie in the Indian women's team, he said, "I've handled many teams, I've been involved with many teams before as a player and as a coach. But I haven't seen such a cohesive unit than this one. And I'm really glad that I was a small part in these last two years and being with them day in, day out. They worked terribly hard. Unbelievable sacrifices that they've made. Two years, superb dedication. One thing which I really observed with this Indian women's cricket team is that if you give them instruction, they will follow it to the “T”. Only and only if they trust you."

Winning the World Cup as an India coach is naturally now the biggest highlight of Muzumdar's career. "I think without a doubt when Harmanpreet Kaur (Indian women's team captain) lifted that World Cup, it was a surreal moment. I don't think it will get any better and bigger than that," he said.