India bowling coach Troy Cooley confident of Smriti Mandhana's playing against West Indies

image-le574z3lSmriti Mandhana missed India's opening match vs Pakistan

India's batting mainstay Smriti Mandhana could make a return to the playing XI against West Indies in their second Group B match today when both teams clash in the ongoing ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2023.

Bowling coach Troy Cooley on the eve of the match revealed that Mandhana is working hard, and that team management are 'pretty confident' of her starting against the former champions in Cape Town.

Mandhana missed India's opening salvo against arch-rivals Pakistan, after sustaining a finger injury during their warm-up match, which also saw the left-handed batter miss the second tour game as well.

India currently occupies the second position in the Group B table, behind England, who have won both their matches thus far. 

Jemimah Rodrigues' unbeaten 53 off 38 helped India chase down a stiff target set by Pakistan on Sunday.

Here's what Cooley said

“Yeah, she’s been working very hard. It’ll obviously be assessed after today. She did everything [that] was needed to be done today and from us, we’ll look at how she pulls up. But we’re pretty confident. She got through the session today and did everything she needed to do,

Mandhana has been India's most consistent T20I batter in 2022,  having scored 594 runs at an average of 33.

She recently became the highest-bid women's player in the Women's Premier League (WPL) auction, having been purchased for INR 3.4 crore by the Royal Challengers Bangalore.