Smriti Mandhana Reflects on Stellar Year After Winning Best International Cricketer Award

New Delhi: India’s vice captain Smriti Mandhana celebrated a remarkable year after being honoured with the Best International Cricketer (Women) award at the BCCI Naman Awards. The left-handed batter reflected on both her individual contributions and the broader success of Indian cricket, particularly the Women’s ODI World Cup victory.

“It's been a great year. Again, I can't really mention a lot about my own performance because of the way we played the World Cup and winning the World Cup, that was pretty special. But for me individually as well, it was a great year in terms of doing what I could for the team and I'm happy that I could contribute to that,” Mandhana said in a BCCI video.

The opening batter highlighted the significance of India’s resurgence on the global stage across men's and women’s cricket, stating, “As I mentioned in the speech, four World Cups and one Champions Trophy, that's pretty amazing. And for Indian cricket, we had a few years where there was no World Cup, and a lot of people had a lot of things to say. But to come back in the last two years and doing what the Indian cricket has done, it's just amazing. And just to be part of the evening and celebrating all the teams, it's just amazing.”

Mandhana also talked about how important it was to be ready and have support systems in place that helped India win. She praised Jay Shah, the former BCCI secretary and current ICC chief, for all the work he did to help women's cricket grow.  (IANS)

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