DUBAI : Smriti Mandhana found captaincy quite tricky during the Women's Premier League and struggled to manage the hype that came with the role, her Royal Challengers (RC) Bangalore teammate Heather Knight has said.
She may have led the Indian Women's T20 squad in international matches on and off since 2019 but England captain Heather Knight says Smriti Mandhana found the pressure too much and struggled to manage captaincy during the recently-concluded WPL.

On the most recent episode of the 100% Cricket Podcast, Knight argued that Mandhana's squad's two victories in eight games were a result of the burden of leading a well-known club and the anticipation surrounding the WPL's debut season.

RCB nonetheless came in fourth place out of five teams despite Mandhana being tasked with guiding a team that included international heavyweights Ellyse Perry, Sophie Devine, Dane van Niekerk, Megan Schutt, and Knight herself.

"I am well familiar with Smriti. I know [her] extremely well since I played with her at Western Storm and Hobart Hurricanes a few years back, Knight said to Nasser Hussain and Frankie Mackay on the ICC 100% Cricket Podcast.

I get along well with her. In fact, there were instances when I felt her because of how much pressure she was under, which probably had never been felt before. Mandhana was elected captain of the team despite having little prior experience in the position after being acquired by RCB for INR 3.4cr, the highest winning price at the WPL auction earlier this year. She had a low strike rate of 111.19 and scored 149 runs in eight games at an average of 18.62.

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