Correspondent, 21 October: The Indian women's cricket team has clinched the T20 series against Zimbabwe, marking a successful debut for Smriti Mandhana as captain. However, Mandhana's failure to mention the match-winning player in her post-match comments has sparked disappointment among fans.
During the third and final T20 encounter held in Raipur, India posted a massive total of 216 runs while batting first. They went on to register a commanding 92-run victory over Zimbabwe. Nandini Sharma emerged as the standout performer with the ball, claiming a match-high three wickets. Despite this, Captain Mandhana did not even mention Sharma's name during her post-match address, prompting fans to discuss how she seemingly sidelined the match-winner.
Speaking about the team's overall performance after the match, Mandhana stated, "The batting was excellent. Anushka started it, then Shafali and Harman came. I feel everyone contributed and it was very pleasing to see. In fielding too, the bowlers executed their plans well. There are some things we need to work on. We will go back and work on them."
The series saw India avoid an unexpected loss after struggling in the first match, before securing comfortable wins in the second and third games. Addressing the earlier batting issues, Mandhana explained, "In the first match, the middle order did not perform well and the top order also performed similarly. Then, in the second match, they didn't even get a chance to bat. So, it is always good to spend some time in the middle and get some runs under the belt."
Following the series triumph, an X (formerly Twitter) account named 'Cricket Indian' shared a post on October 21, 2026, praising Mandhana's maiden series win. The post highlighted it as a fantastic start to her new era of captaincy.
With the T20 series successfully concluded, India and Zimbabwe are now scheduled to play an ODI series in Vadodara. Looking ahead to the upcoming challenge, Mandhana remarked, "We maintained strong dominance in all three matches. We will try to do the same in the ODI series. We have discussed this as a team. We hope that we will be able to replicate the same performance in Vadodara too."
