New Delhi: Indian opener Smriti Mandhana has wished to complete games for India like how men’s captain Virat Kohli does. She said that the stability Kohli has headed to achieve is ‘unrealistic’ and ‘inspirational’. Yet, she doesn’t want to be compared to any of the players.
“I am happy being Smriti Mandhana of women’s team but the kind of batting he does and the way he wins matches for India, it’s very inspirational. I would try and take the way he finishes the games. I would love doing that for India. It’s unrealistic to have the kind of consistency he has,” the left-hander was quoted as saying to Indian Express.
Smriti, a 2018 Rachael Hey-hoe Flint Award winner, said playing for India was her family’s dream more than that of her and always got support from her family. She started playing cricket while copying the batting style of her brother.
“I used to copy my brother Shravan Mandhana and bat with him. That’s how it all began. I chose cricket as my career when I was 15 or 16 when I scored a century for Maharashtra. More than my dream it was my family’s dream that I play for India and they always supported me,” she added.
BCCI has named Mandhana as the Best Women’s International cricketer in 2018. She made her Test debut in August 2014 against England at Wormsley Park. In 2019, she scored the fastest fifty for India in Women’s T20Is off just 24 balls against New Zealand.
