"It is an exciting time to play cricket right now," says Western Storm's Smriti Mandhana

The highest run scorer from last year's competition returns to the West Country for a second successive season with achievements and accolades galore

Ranked the best and most prolific ODI batter in world cricket. Named the ICC Women’s Cricketer of the Year 2018. The 2018 KSL top run scorer. All these accolades belong to Smriti Mandhana, who has already experienced so much in the game at just 23 years old in what has been an incredible year for the India opener.

She amassed 421 runs at an average of 60.14 with a best of 102 against Lancashire Thunder in last year's competition, and despite her absence from Finals Day 2018 due to international commitments, she had already left a sizeable impression.

Returning for a second consecutive season to a side that has never failed to qualify for Final Day in the three years of the competition, the standards have been set high, and while they are something, she will not ignite any unnecessary internal competition and conflict, she believes the environment has been in place to help her succeed since her first day last year.

"They made me feel quite comfortable from the first day, it didn’t really feel like I was playing for a new team and that is something which mentally helps you play the way you want to play.

"The team environment and mentality that has been created makes everyone play for each other and everyone is very open about everything.

"Even the coaching staff, I think they are very supportive of everything, so to do that every year to go into Finals Day I think it is important to have a good team environment, and this is one thing this team definitely has.

"This year also the focus is the same to win as many matches as possible and I don't think I will try to compete with my own stuff from last year.

"It is a new start and I can't predict anything but I want to give my best in every match."

^{Mandhana was voted Women's Cricketer of the Year last year by the ICC}

A fresh beginning is perhaps a bi-product of the meticulous work she has done over the past 12 months to improve her game.

The 23-year-old from Mumbai scored the fastest 50 in T20 international history from just 24 balls in February and has had another excellent winter with Hobart Hurricanes, but amongst that there was some conversion frustration.

"I have been working on things in the past year because I was getting out between 50 and 60 a lot.

"It was something I wanted to really work hard on, so let’s see how it goes.

"I have worked on it just with my personal coach and Woorkeri Raman my Indian coach, they have been giving me targets to keep batting so much time or a certain amount of balls."

Western Storm's sub-continent contingent has expanded ahead of the new season, with allrounder Deepti Sharma joining Mandhana in the 2017 winners' squad.

The duo are two of four India players involved in the tournament, with 18-year-old Jemimah Rodrigues and experienced campaigner Harmanpreet Kaur representing Yorkshire Diamonds and Lancashire Thunder respectively.

So while the age range of the India players involved varies, Mandhana believes the end goal remains the same.

"I think she [Sharma] is a great bowler. She has been amazing for India for the last four years.

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"Her four overs have been really crucial in all T20 matches for India and I am sure that she will give that sort of breakthrough or contain in the middle overs, even for the Western Storm because she can spin it on any wicket, which is one of her biggest strengths.

"Me and Harman have been playing for the last two years and it [the KSL] had a major contribution in developing our game and our mindset actually.

"It gets you a bit stronger, coming here and staying alone and doing things on your own, so that will really help Jeemy and Deepti both as well.

"These sort of T20 matches will really help the Indian team go one step further.

"We have been in the semi-finals and final in the last two World Cups and came back empty-handed in both so hopefully this experience will help all of us to win a world title for India."

That 50-over world title went to England and Heather Knight in 2017, but England’s skipper has endured a rather more testing period this summer after a humiliating Ashes defeat on home soil.

But Mandhana has no doubt the 28-year-old will be revved up to go again once the KSL gets going.

"I am sure she will forget what has happened and will come back stronger.

"I think that from the time I have known her she will want to come back stronger and harder rather than think about what has happened in the Ashes.

"I am pretty sure she will come with a fresh mindset and even stronger than before and there is no doubt she wants to win this KSL."

The competition is likely to be entering its final year as a competitive set of matches before the introduction of The Hundred in 2020.

But regardless of the plans implemented for the foreseeable future, Mandhana maintains there has never been a better time to be involved in the game.

"I think the women’s game is growing each year irrespective of one tournament the game is growing globally everywhere like not even cricket all the sports have been growing equally.

"It is an exciting time to play cricket right now and every competition has been growing, even internationally the kind of crowds we are getting, so hopefully we get similar numbers in terms of crowds at the KSL as well."

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