Ever since the Indian women”s cricket team has arrived in England to play the most coveted event of the game, they have been making the headlines for some or the other reason.
The women in blue had an excellent start to their campaign as they went on to defeat the host nation, England. This victory grabbed many eyeballs as the Indian eves outclassed the English team in all the departments. In their second game, they beat West Indies by a comprehensive margin of 7 wickets.
The 20-year-old Smriti Mandhana has emerged as the guiding force for their team so far in the tournament. She made it to the flight for England after recovering from a knee injury which had kept her out of the national side for a period of almost 6 months. Though it is never easy to make a comeback after an injury, Mandhana seems to have emerged stronger against the odds. The opener smashed 90 off 72 balls in the first game and followed it up with her career-best score- an unbeaten 106 off 108 balls. Owing to her standout performance she has bagged two consecutive Player of the Match award.
The confidence Mandhana has gained on the field has reflected off it too. In the post-match press conference, she was thrown a question if, according to her, India could win the tournament or not. To which she gave a befitting reply “What? You don’t?”
A few days back Indian skipper Mithali Raj had made headlines for her crusty response in one of the media interactions where she was asked who her favorite male cricketer was. “Do you ask the same question to a male cricketer? Do you ask them who their favorite female cricketer is?” she said.
India will now lock horns with Pakistan on July 2 (Sunday).
– by Yash Kashikar
