Before Indian women’s opener Smriti Mandhana became a sensation, she didn’t know the difference between a left-handed and a right-handed batsman.
The 21-year-old, who is naturally right-handed started batting left-handed after watching her brother Shravan Mandhana play when she was a kid.
Though India failed to lift the Women’s World Cup 2017 trophy, Smriti has termed her first ICC tournament as ‘good’.
“The journey was good, of course. As a kid, you always dream to play at Lord’s. Unfortunately, we missed playing at Lord’s in 2014 as the match was washed out. But I remember Jhulu didi (Jhulan Goswami) telling me and Shikha (Pandey) that “don’t worry the 2017 World Cup final is at the same ground and if we do well, we will be there”. I think that really happened. It was a dream come true playing before the packed stadium in Lord’s,” Mandhana told reporters as the team arrived in Mumbai, India following heroic World Cup campaign.
The Mumbai-born cricketer from Sangli also has a good sense of humour and fans got a hint of the same when she spoke about her academics.
“I am in first year (of college) for the last three years,” said Smriti. With a bit of laughter, she added, “I have not failed, but I am not giving exams.”
