Smriti Mandhana breaks silence after wedding cancelled: 'I don’t think I love anything more than cricket'

NEW DELHI: India's batting sensation and ODI World Cup-winning vice-captain Smriti Mandhana said that one truth has become clearer to her than anything else over the past 12 years as a professional cricketer — there is nothing she cares about more deeply than the game of cricket.

India’s most accomplished left-handed batter in women's cricket looked back on her journey, from her international debut in 2013 to helping India lift the ICC ODI World Cup last month for the first time in their history, while speaking at the Amazon Smbhav Summit on Wednesday.

Mandhana spoke openly about what fuels her commitment each day as an India cricketer. “I don’t think there is anything I love more than cricket. Putting on the India jersey is the biggest motivation. No matter what you’re going through, that one thought helps you block everything out,” she said.

Even as a child, she knew exactly what she wanted after growing up. “The obsession with batting was always there. People around me didn’t really get it, but in my head I wanted only one thing — to be known as a world champion.”

She described the ODI World Cup win as the result of years of hard work and disappointment.

“This trophy was the outcome of everything we’ve been fighting for. I’ve played for more than a decade, and so many times things didn’t fall into place. Before the final, we pictured that moment over and over again. When it finally appeared on the screen, it genuinely gave us goosebumps. It was emotional in every way.”

The occasion was even more overwhelming with legends Mithali Raj and Jhulan Goswami watching from the stands. “We desperately wanted to win it for them too. Seeing tears in their eyes felt like the whole of women’s cricket had achieved something. It was a victory for everyone who came before us.”

Mandhana shared the biggest lessons she carried from the triumph: “You always start from zero, regardless of what you scored previously. And never play for yourself — that’s something we kept telling one another.”

This event also marked Mandhana’s first public appearance since she confirmed the cancellation of her wedding with musician Palash Muchhal.

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