India tour of Australia: Smriti Mandhana is world-class, back her ability to score big – Batting coach SS Das

India women’s team batting coach Shiv Sundar Das backed opener Smriti Mandhana to overcome poor form sooner than later, saying the elegant left-hander is a world-class batter.

Mandhana’s struggles with the bat in the format continued with the left-hander scoring just 16 in the first ODI. The opener has breached the 50-run mark just once in the last nine games but Das is confident she will provide the much-needed solid start for India.India lost the ODI series opener to Australia earlier this week at Harrup Park in McKay by 9 wickets. India, who had set their sights on scoring 250-plus consistently, manged just 225 for 8 in 50 overs and Australia gunned the target down in just 41 overs with 9 wickets to spare.”I had a chat with her and we have worked on her in the last two sessions, we have addressed the issues, she is a world-class player and we are backing her ability to get runs for us, and definitely, we’ll see the difference in tomorrow’s game,” Das said on the eve of the 2nd ODI which will also be played in McKay.India have been let down by the top-order in the recent past and the responsibility of scoring the bulk of the runs has fallen on Mithali Raj. The India captain delivered once again, hitting 63 runs in 107 balls but her inability to score at a quicker pace has also hurt India.India looking at 6 runs per over: SS DasShiv Sunder Das promised a different approach from India in the 2nd ODI, saying the team has been working hard in their practice sessions.”We are looking at the top-order to give us a good start and the middle order — they have worked hard in the last few sessions, we have some plans. I think they’ll play differently in tomorrow’s game,” Das added.”We have Shafali (Verma) and Smriti… I am positive they will give a good start and once we score 60-70 runs in the 10 overs we can carry that momentum in the middle overs.””We are working on that aspect of the game, we are looking for a good start and in the middle overs we are looking at the average of five runs and in the end we are looking at six runs per over. That’s our batting plan.”After the loss of openers Mandhana and Shafali Verma inside the first six overs, India struggled to get going.”We have addressed the issues in the first 10 overs but, in the middle overs, running between the wickets we are still working on.”It’s a work in process, we have a few young batters in the side, we have to give them some time and once they get used to the conditions, they will definitely fire.”