"She has been phenomenal for us" - Mithali Raj heaps praise on Sneh Rana
Mithali Raj has lauded Sneh Rana for her phenomenal performances on the Indian women team's tour of England thus far.
Sneh Rana played a dogged unbeaten 80-run knock to help Team India draw the one-off Test on the tour. The spin-bowling all-rounder then scored a quickfire 24 and stitched together a 50-run partnership with Mithali Raj to take India across the line in the third ODI against England.
During the post-match interview for the third ODI, Mithali Raj spoke in glowing terms about Sneh Rana's contributions on the trip to date. She said:
"It is always good to have an all-rounder in the side, especially a batter who can bowl. She has been phenomenal for us, even in the Test and in the ODIs when we got her in the second game. I am sure she will play a very important role for India in the coming years."
Apart from her match-defining contributions with the bat, Sneh Rana has been quite effective with the ball in hand as well. She was India's most successful bowler in the Test match and picked up a couple of wickets, apart from being economical, in the two ODIs she played.
"I never gave up in the middle" - Mithali Raj
While reflecting on her own 75-run knock, Mithali Raj highlighted that she was just looking for some support from the other end to take the team through. She said:
"I never gave up in the middle. I just needed one good partnership to take it to the last. That is something that kept me going throughout the innings."
Mithali Raj added that chasing a target has always been her forte. She also intended to mentor the youngsters at the other end during Team India's run chase. In this regard, she said:
"I knew in the middle overs I can sort of manage the game. It's just that when you have young players in the side, you need to guide them along and I need to be there in the middle to take them along. So that was a responsibility and as a player, I have always enjoyed chasing because I know I can build my innings around and take the team forward."
The highest run-scorer in international women's cricket signed off by stating that she had targeted specific bowlers as well as areas she could hit. Mithali Raj explained:
"It's being there in the middle because you can't win the game sitting out in the dugout. I wanted to be there and win the game for the team and I picked the bowlers and the areas where I could have got more runs. I was guiding Sneh Rana on the other end also to sort of not throw her wicket but pull the match to the end."
Mithali Raj played an unbeaten 75-run knock off just 86 deliveries. The meticulously planned effort helped India chase down the 220-run target with four wickets in hand and three deliveries to spare.