MANCHESTER: Smriti Mandhana's emergence as a more complete T20 batter will be a key talking point when India take on South Africa in a crucial Group A clash of the ICC Women's T20 World Cup, feels former pacer Shikha Pandey.
India have made a strong start to their campaign with two wins from as many matches, but Pandey believes the in-form opening pair of Mandhana and Shafali Verma will face their toughest challenge yet against a quality South African pace attack.
Speaking on JioHotstar's 'Game Plan', Pandey said the contest between Shafali and veteran pacer Shabnim Ismail could be one of the highlights of the match.
"India's opening pair of Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma have given India many strong starts. But they will face their toughest test yet. South Africa has the best bowling attack in this Women's T20 World Cup," she said.
"Shabnim Ismail has made a strong comeback and she's bowling with good pace. Marizanne Kapp has already taken three wickets against Pakistan and is bowling with great control. Both will test the Indian openers with swing, seam and bounce."
Pandey added that Mandhana will need to be careful against the moving ball, especially considering her past dismissals while trying to drive away from the body.
"Smriti Mandhana has been dismissed in the past trying to drive away from her body, often caught in the slips or behind the stumps. She will need to be selective against the moving ball," she said.
"Shafali loves a challenge, and Ismail is not afraid to use the bouncer. That will be a spicy contest."
Pandey also praised Mandhana's efforts to add power-hitting to her game, saying the left-hander has evolved from being just a timing player into a batter capable of dominating all areas of the ground.
"India's vice-captain Smriti Mandhana has worked extensively on her power-hitting. A perfect example of that was the WPL final, where we saw her playing shots through deep mid-wicket with great success," she said.
"For someone who was known as a touch player, this is a big shift. Smriti is now accessing deep square leg, which was never her primary scoring area before. She is no longer just a timing player; she is now a complete T20 batter who can dominate both sides of the wicket."
Meanwhile, former India batter Veda Krishnamurthy backed Jemimah Rodrigues to return to form, saying the middle-order batter should not be judged on a few matches.
"You can't be too worried about Jemimah Rodrigues' performances so far in this T20 World Cup. She is too good a player to be judged on a few games," she said.
Krishnamurthy said Jemimah's performances in the 50-over World Cup showed her ability to deliver on big occasions.
"The knock against New Zealand and the match-winning innings in the semi-final against Australia showed what she is capable of. She has the backing of the team and the management," she said.