After becoming world no.1 batter, Mandhana now wants to win a World Cup

A small goal already achieved, Indian women's team opener Smriti Mandhana has now set her sights on winning a World Cup title with the national team.

Mandhana became the number one ODI batter in the ICC Women's Rankings last month following her exemplary run of form.

Mandhana, who will lead India women in the three-match T20 series against England starting here on Monday, said her goal now is to stay at the top and win a World title.

"As a kid when you start playing, you always think of winning the World Cup. Obviously, there are individual targets like, getting to ICC world no.1 spot. And reaching there was really pleasing but now I have to work even harder. To stay there is much more important than getting there," said Mandhana, who replaced injured Harmanpreet Kaur as the T20 captain.

"As a batter the most important thing is to reach the ICC world no.1 position. Definitely it was one of the small goals for me, but my major goal is definitely to win the World Cup," she added.

The upcoming series will provide Indian women's team a chance to finalise a core group of players ahead of the T20 World Cup early next year but Mandhana said their primary aim is to win the series, which in turn will throw up new players.

"Definitely we are looking to win the series and not just trying out new faces. We really have a very exciting team. It is important for us to believe that we are going into the series to win it rather than experimenting," the skipper said.

"First goal is to win the series and if we can achieve that we will definitely be able to find new faces for the World Cup. It would be much easier rather than thinking the other way."
"She can bowl that 2-3 crucial overs and gives a lot as a batter. She is also a brilliant fielder. Definitely, she will have a huge role to play in T20s for India in the future."