India women’s cricket team star opener Smriti Mandhana is shining with her stunning form in the ODIs and T20s. Smriti, who was practising at Eden Park in Auckland, made her debut on ‘Chahal TV’ and tried to pull the leg-spinner’s leg. On ‘Chahal TV’, Smriti talked about her batting inspiration, how she became World No 1 and sharing her jersey No 18 with Virat Kohli, India men’s cricket team captain.
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World No 1 batter makes her debut on Chahal TV@mandhana_smriti has been taking her batting inspiration from this leg spinner 😂😂. Find out who it is in this fun segment of @yuzi_chahal TV – by @RajalArora
Full video 📽️📽️https://t.co/ND9xz7OUgR #ChahalTV pic.twitter.com/fLHBysiltm
— BCCI (@BCCI) February 7, 2019
On ‘Chahal TV’, when Yuzi asked Smriti if she learnt anything watching him bat, the young opener said, “Yes, yes. I was inspired a lot after seeing you bat in the 4th ODI in Hamilton. I felt like I have to develop my game. You’re one my inspirations when it comes to batting.”
On sharing her jersey number with Virat, Smriti said, “I wanted number 7 on my jersey. My roll number at school was 7. But someone else had already taken 7. Vikas sir, our team manager, then suggested me to take 18 (Virat Kohli’s jersey number), as my birth date is 18, July 18. I knew it only a couple of years ago that Virat also has been playing with 18 on the back of his jersey.”
Meanwhile, it wasn’t the best day for both, men and women in the 1st T20 at Wellington. The women’s team was thrashed by 23 runs in the opening game but Smriti Mandhana remained in form as she hit a record-smashing half century. On the other hand, men’s team suffered a humiliating defeat by 80 runs. It was also India’s biggest loss in terms of runs in a T20I.