Dubai, July 18, 2025
As the buzz around the 2025 ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup intensifies, India’s batting mainstay Smriti Mandhana is choosing to keep her feet firmly on the ground. With over 9,000 international runs and a decade-long career defined by calmness and consistency, Mandhana is approaching this phase not with hype, but with humility.
In a conversation with cricket historian Sunil Yash Kalra on the Cricket Predicta Show, Mandhana reinforced her philosophy of staying focused on the moment. “I’ve always been a big believer in not thinking too far ahead. We have to focus on the process, do every day right—and that’s the aim,” she said.
Mandhana, who is expected to play a pivotal role in India’s World Cup campaign, believes the key lies in collective calmness rather than anticipation. “Even as a team, everyone’s calm. We’ve got a long road ahead over the next five to six months. I wouldn’t like to speak a lot about it. Cricket is such a game—you do your things right, things fall in place. Let’s just try and do that well.”
While her focus remains squarely on India’s World Cup preparations, Mandhana is also quietly building for the future of the sport. She recently launched the City Cricket Academy by Smriti Mandhana in Dubai—an initiative born from her long-standing bond with UK-based coach Don Bhagawati, who will lead the academy’s training programs.
“This is a great partnership for me,” she said. “Right now, I’m focusing more on my cricket, and Don will handle the coaching. I’ve known Don for many years, and when I first heard his name, I was scared. I wondered, who is this ‘Don’? But over time, Don and his family have become like family to me in England.”
Statistically, Mandhana remains a giant of the modern game. In Tests, she averages 57.18 across 12 innings with two centuries. In ODIs, she has scored 4,501 runs at 46.4, while her T20I numbers stand at 3,982 runs with a strike rate close to 124. Her 1,000+ boundaries across formats speak to her elegance and authority at the crease.(Agency)
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