The latest sensation of Indian Women’s Cricket, Smriti Mandhana idolizes Kumar Sangakkara as her batting guru. The 20-year-old girl, used to follow the batting of the Sri Lankan legend with great sincerity, revealed her childhood coach Anant Tembvekar.
Smriti Mandhana started the World cup campaign with fantastic knock 0f 91 against a decent bowling attack of England and followed it up with a mind blowing century against the West Indies which helped India to kick start the tournament.
“Smriti Mandhana was very lively since her childhood. But at the nets, she was extremely disciplined. She never used to leave the nets unless she had mastered a shot. Later on, she became a fan of Kumar Sangakkara. In the nets, she always tried to copy Sangakkara while batting. Sometimes I had scolded her for trying to copy the Sri Lankan great,” Anant said while talking to the reporters.
Smriti Mandhana joined the cricket academy of Anant Tembvekar following the footsteps of her younger brother when she was very young. Mandhana mastered the art of playing pool and hook shots from that tender age recalled her coach. She became the second cricketer from India after Harmanpreet Kaur to get a one-year contract from the Big Bash League teams Brisbane Heats.
While talking about his relationship with the fiery batter, he was delighted that she has not forgotten despite achieving such heights. ”She has not forgotten me yet. After scoring the century in the group league match in the World Cup she called me from London, asked me whether she had made any technical mistake during her century. I did not expect a phone call from her,” he said.
Smriti Mandhana broke into the national team after a scintillating double century in the West Zone Women’s U-19 One Day tournament. She has played 26 One-day Internationals & 27 T-20 matches for India.