India women’s vice-captain Smriti Mandhana is undoubtedly one of the most classic left-handed batsmen in modern cricket, who seems to have mastered the art of the bat, especially opening.
The only Indian cricketer to win the ICC Women’s Cricketer of the Year award twice and being nominated for the third time in 2022, besides earning a nomination for the Women’s T20 Cricketer of the Year, Smriti has been leading the team with the bat. Also in terms of leadership.
Read also: ‘Sanju Samson has always been our partner…he is very passionate’
In an exclusive chat with IANS on the sidelines of being announced as Herbalife Nutrition’s latest sponsored athlete, Smriti spoke about the sacrifices made in terms of nutrition for better cricketing results, being part of the leadership unit of the Indian team. Developing as a T20 batsman. even more.
Part:-
Q. Your 2023 begins with your association with Herbalife. How do you view this partnership with a global nutrition brand like Herbalife?
A. Cricket is definitely catching up on the importance of fitness and nutrition. In the last five-six years, we have seen how important fitness and nutrition are in cricket. It’s been five-six years when I really focused a lot on these things. My partnership with Herbalife is definitely going to fuel this and I am sure this partnership will definitely inspire others to get into fitness and nutrition.
Q. In terms of nutrition, can you share what sacrifices you have made to maintain optimum fitness levels to play cricket?
A. Big sacrifices have been made because I am a big foodie, as I love eating out. As a child, I used to eat outside food regularly. But in the last five-six years since you really know that you have to be fit, it has become really important to be disciplined about what you eat and how much you eat.
For the last few years, this battle is going on in your mind that you feel like eating something. But again you can’t be really tough and just be like that. In life, you really have to understand when you really have to have a cheat meal once a month or something like that. But then again, it’s a battle again every day that you really don’t want to get over it, even if it’s right in front of you.
Q. Speaking of the years, can you describe how 2022 has been for you and for women’s cricket?
A. 2022 has been a good year for me and also for women’s cricket. We had a wonderful Commonwealth Games. It was a very different experience for us to be a part of the multi sport event. We didn’t win the gold medal (India won the silver medal), but I think the whole journey has been great.
For me personally too, a lot of the things I learned and thought about things I could do well, and I did well. So, there is a lot to learn in 2022 but it has been a big year for me as well as for women’s cricket.
Q. How do you see the year 2023 for the Indian women’s cricket team?
A. 2023 is going to be a big year for women’s cricket. we have a t20 World Cup as well as the Women’s IPL, which will be announced later. Plus two home Test matches, which are going to be huge too. So, definitely, a year to look forward to for women’s cricket and I am sure women’s cricket can reach greater heights this year.
Where has your improvement as an opener in T20 cricket come from?
a. Well, first of all, what is my playing style, and what is more suited to my style, four to five years back, I had to make a big decision about how I want to go about my T20 cricket and what kind of strike Rate, shots, the kind of starts I want to play and the kind of starts I want to give to my team.
I really had to work on a lot of things, starting with lofting more than actually playing the drive. All those things I have implemented and now when I see myself in T20 cricket, I try to give very good and explosive starts to the team. If needed, I can also play the role of anchor. One of the big lessons I’ve learned in T20 cricket is that you really don’t have just one gear. So, now I feel confident as a T20 batsman.
Q. How has the Indian team’s philosophy in terms of playing T20Is changed over the years?
A. We have a lot of young players in the Indian team now and it is a very young team. So, everybody really wants to play that aggressive brand of cricket. They want to go out there and express themselves and also want to win matches. You can see the kind of matches or innings the girls are playing or even trying to improve their fitness and nutrition.
Everyone is trying to improve in every aspect and perform at their real best because Australia, England, New Zealand have been way ahead of us in terms of fitness and nutrition. But I think here as well, we’ve been catching up on it over the years and I’m sure we’ll get to the point where we’re definitely beating them, but to be consistently number one and All the girls are working really hard for this. ,
Q. How has your role in the leadership group evolved in the Indian team, from making your debut in 2013 to now being the vice-captain of the team?
A. It took only a few years from 2013 to 2016 or 2017, when I became the vice-captain in the T20 team. Now that we have all the girls around 17-18, for me and also for the players who have been playing for a few years, we just have one thing that we try to do and that is to be good at the game. Maintaining the atmosphere dressing rooms.
We try to give young girls that kind of confidence to really go out and do whatever they can and not think about anything else. As a leadership unit, that’s the only thing we try to do in the dressing room and try to keep them as comfortable as possible.
Q. Lastly, if any young girl cricketer turned to you for nutritional advice, what would it be and why?
a. What has worked for me is being really disciplined about your nutrition and the physical part of it, like doing your gym sessions regularly. Nutrition has been a big part of my journey over the years.
So, for me, it really helps you a lot when you’re out on the field, to be really disciplined about what you eat and how much you eat. So, one of the pieces of advice I like to give is be disciplined about what you eat and how much you train.
get the latest cricket news, the schedule And cricket live score Here
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)