India vice-captain Smriti Mandhana shared a heartfelt response on social media that has left netizens in awe. Film maker Kabir Khan shared image of a young Kashmir girl who revealed she was a massive Mandhana fan. The post reached its way through to the Indian ace, who revealed she was also cheering for her and offered her the ‘big hug’.
While visiting Aru Valley, Khan met a young girl who told him that Mandhana was her favourite cricketer, a moment he later shared on social media along with photographs from the region.
Mandhana noticed the post and responded with a warm message. “Please give the little champ in Aru a big hug from me and tell her I’m cheering for her too,” she wrote.
The impact of women’s cricket is growing exponentially with India clinching their maiden Women’s World Cup title earlier this year. Mandhana is currently in action in the IND vs SL T20I series, played in Vishakhapatnam and Thiruvananthapuram.
Smriti on Sunday etched her name in the record books. The 30-year-old became only the second women cricketer to score more than 4000 runs in T20Is.
Overall, only 5 players have scored 4000 or more runs in T20I cricket- both men’s and women’s. Smriti joins India stalwarts Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in the list, which includes Bates and Pakistan’s Babar Azam. Mandhana is by far the youngest among the lot and has a real chance at nailing down the top spot in the future.
Mandhana starred in India’s World Cup win, scoring a team high 474 runs at the top of the order. Only Laura Wolvaardt scored more runs than Smriti at the tournament as India ended their wait for a maiden Women’s World Cup title.
