We’ve won World Cup, but still have a few things to work on in T20 cricket: Smriti Mandhana

Newly appointed captain Smriti Mandhana on Wednesday said India may have won the ODI World Cup recently, but the team still needs to work hard in the shortest format, with the inaugural edition of the Women's Champions Trophy set to be held early next year.

India will host the six-team tournament in the T20 format at Mumbai's Brabourne Stadium and the BCA Stadium in Vadodara from February 14 to 28.

Mandhana is set to lead India in her first assignment as full-time captain when the hosts take on Zimbabwe in a three-match T20I series starting here on Friday, followed by three ODIs in Vadodara. She took charge from Harmanpreet Kaur.

Mandhana said India would look to make the most of the six T20Is ahead of the Women's Champions Trophy.

"The first bilateral (series) with Zimbabwe, I think, is very exciting. It is our first time playing with them," Mandhana told reporters here.

"Sometimes, playing with Zimbabwe and all the Associate nations, it feels like you can learn a lot from them as well because they enjoy playing their cricket.

"Sometimes, we get into a lot of things professionally. You can learn a lot from them. But again, we have six T20 matches before the Champions Trophy as an Indian team, so we will look to set standards as an Indian team (as to) how we approach the next three months leading up to the Champions Trophy," Mandhana added.

Mandhana said there were several areas in which the Indian team needed to improve in the shortest format.

"We have won the World Cup in the last one-and-a-half years, but there were a few things which we needed to work on in the T20 format especially," she said.

"But I would say our strength has been the players who have come in. They have done extremely well. On the first day, I wouldn't really want to talk about weaknesses in a way.

"There are a lot of things we need to work on. We need a lot of things to get in place. But I think today is the day to talk about good and positive stuff," Mandhana said.

Mandhana said she had been part of India's leadership group for a long time and that full-time captaincy would not be an entirely new challenge for her.

"I have been the vice-captain for the last almost 10 years. So, I have been part of the leadership role, and I wouldn't say it is an extremely new thing. But for sure, it is something to look forward to, and hopefully, I can do justice to the role," Mandhana said.

The Indian captain expressed confidence in the young talent coming through the ranks.

"Jemimah (Rodrigues) has been injured for the last two months. (But) I think we have got exciting players. Anushka (Sharma) and Niki (Prasad), who have done really well in India A, and of course G Kamalini, who was No. 3 in the Asian Games," Mandhana said.

"We have a lot of options, and I am really positive that they will do well," she added.

Mandhana was part of a review meeting with BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia, head coach Amol Muzumdar and Harmanpreet Kaur a day before the former captain stepped down from the role across formats. Mandhana said the discussion centred on how to take Indian cricket forward.

"We had a meeting a day before. The conversation was about how to take Indian cricket forward," Mandhana replied when asked if she knew beforehand that she would be appointed captain.

"… and what should be the approach for the next two to three years because we have a lot of major tournaments coming up," she added.

Mandhana hoped the captaincy would have no impact on her batting.

"I have become a captain on the field; there should be no changes in my batting. My coach used to tell me when I was 15 years old, 'Whenever you bat, always think you are the captain'.

"You always take that responsibility, and those things have never changed. If the ball is in the zone, I will still go for it. I will still play whatever (way) the team needs (me) to," Mandhana added.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Bridge Desk. It is published from a syndicated feed)