Australia Women wary of classiest India Women batter ahead of crucial Women's T20 World Cup 2024 match

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Australia Women have their eyes set on classiest India Women players as they gear up for their crucial clash against India Women on Sunday, October 13.

The match will hold a lot of importance considering that India Women lost their first game against New Zealand, and need to win their remaining matches for a spot in the semi-final.

Australia Women stars Alyssa Healy and Beth Mooney have talked about the threat from India opener Smriti Mandhana. The southpaw hit an impressive fifty in her last outing against Sri Lanka, and looked impressive against the spinners.

"It's always a big match. I think it's the last round game in our pool, which is probably going to be high pressure stakes yet again. They've got a lot of match winners. I can't go past probably Smriti Mandana at the top of the order. We know how hard they are to beat and hard to play against, especially in the biggest stage," Alyssa Healy said.

"I think Smriti is just a classy player. When people watch her bat, they probably say, you know, she's really nice to watch," Beth Mooney added.

Further, Tahlia McGrath reckoned that it's already a hard-fought battle against India Women, and the involvement of fans make the competition more intense.

"It's always fun playing India. The crowd is always double when you play them. I'm pretty sure every single game we play against them comes down to the last over. It's always a hard-fought battle. It's always swings in momentum in the game. We're going to have to be wary of them. Two world-class teams going head-to-head is always going to produce a really good fixture for fans," Tahlia McGrath said.

Ellyse Perry also praised India and said, "India are phenomenally talented and skillful side and we know whenever we play each other that it's going to be super tough. It's been a pleasure to kind of develop that rivalry with India."

India Women have defeated Pakistan and Sri Lanka on the bounce, and are aiming for a comprehensive win against the three-time defending champions.