• Source:JND
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IND-W vs AUS-W: Despite falling short by 43 runs against Australia in the ODI series decider at Arun Jaitley Stadium in Dubai, captain Harmanpreet Kaur and vice-captain Smriti Mandhana emphasised optimism and reflection on the team's performance.

In a thrilling ODI decider marked by a flurry of runs and broken records, India were skittled out for 369 chasing a monumental target of 413 against Australia. Mandhana played an epic innings of 125, while Harmanpreet scored 52, and Deepti Sharma also played a crucial knock of 72 in a high-scoring contest.

Smriti, who also scored a century in 50 balls, the fastest hundred by an Indian woman batter in ODIs, said playing an optimistic brand of cricket was the team's motto before coming out to bat in the second innings.

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"The only thing is not to think about anything, just react to the ball. We knew the wicket was good and the outfield was fast, and we'll get value for our shots. You don't have a choice when you're chasing 400, have to play that brand of cricket," said Smriti, who was named Player of the Series for her two centuries and a fifty in the three-game series.

"It was a good game for women's cricket. Nothing, just focusing on the routines I want to do. Keeping it simple and not overthinking," he added.

Harmanpreet acknowledged the disappointment of falling short, emphasising the positives from the series against a strong Australian side ahead of the 2025 Women's ODI World Cup.

"Not liking the fact of being on the losing side. But throughout the series, we played good cricket. Lots of learning for us. The way Deepti and Sneh also batted, even the last game, how Sneh batted, and that shows we have depth in our batting and can play our shots. A lot of positive takeaways and learnings. It was a good series. We gave them a tough series," Harmanpreet said.

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She also discussed a below-par fielding performance and the obstacle of finding the ideal team combination for the World Cup.

"Fielding is something we're really working hard on. Unfortunately, we're still missing those chances. You're always asking me about our combination," she added.

"The good thing is we have so many players now, and we can try a lot of combinations. World Cup is a long tournament, and it's about whoever is best for the particular day," the India captain said.