Whenever we win the World Cup trophy, that would be the best year for me individually and as a team: Smriti Mandhana

Whenever we win the World Cup trophy, that would be the best year for me individually and as a team: Smriti Mandhana (Photo Source: Bharat Sanjay Reddy/CricTracker)

2024 was quite a stellar year for Indian cricket and in particular, Smriti Mandhana. She won numerous awards in the form of the ICC ODI Cricketer of the Year and the BCCI Women’s Cricketer of the Year owing to her wonderful performances spanning the entire year.

However, the vice-captain of India Women was not completely satisfied with the performance in general. She mainly attributed her sentiments to the shock group-stage exit at the Women’s T20 World Cup.

“The World Cup would have gone in a different way for us as a team and for me individually, I would have picked for sure 2024 as my best year, but I always believe that something is really special to the Indian team is that World Cup. We had a really disappointing one. The year 2024 for us was sweet and bitter in a lot of ways. I wouldn’t say that, it’s not an individual sport, right? It’s a team sport. I wouldn’t say 2024 was my best year because we did not win the World Cup trophy and I would say, whenever we win the World Cup trophy, that would be the best year for me individually and as a team,” shared Mandhana in an interview with Sports Today.

Talking about too far ahead, I’m not that person: Mandhana

The top-order batter further emphasised the urge for the team to do well, and shed light on her thought process regarding the routine she followed.

“I think we need to really keep things simple. As a team, I think we really want to do well, we really want to and everyone who’s coming in has a lot of energy. But the only thing I would say is that at this moment, talking about too far ahead, I’m not that person, I’ve never been. I would rather focus at the moment on what I have to do today in the gym, what I have to practice tomorrow and do those things right, because when you do those things right, that is when you can go on the ground and play a certain way,” added Mandhana.

Also Read: Women don’t want equal money, we want equal respect: RCB captain Smriti Mandhana

Speaking of Mandhana’s 2024, she became the first female cricketer to register four ODI tons in a single year. In the 13 ODIs she featured in, Mandhana amassed 747 runs to top the run-scoring chart. In the process, she scored a total of 101 boundaries (95 fours, six sixes). Last but not the least, she played a vital role in India’s record win against Ireland Women last month; contributing 135 to her side’s eventual total of 435.

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