Victory Lap

In a year of big wins for Indian women's cricket, Smriti Mandhana, the inimitable breakout star of the game, discusses passion, purpose and pure play with AKANKSHA KAMATH.

To watch Smriti Mandhana play is exactly what youd expect—the vice captain of the Indian Women's Cricket team is constant, calm and undeterred. As she scored her first century in the 2017 World Cup Final, a cheeky sidesmile appeared from under her helmet. She hugged her teammate and went back to base. No mighty show of strength, no vigorous fist pumps—just an incredible game of body, mind, and bat.

“She practises as per the conditions ahead of a tour,” explains her coach of 13 years, Anant Tambvekar. If she is going to Australia, she practises with wet tennis balls. If she’s going to be in England, she practises early in the morning when it is cold, windy and wet. That’s the reason behind her run-making spree... That’s why she is in the Top 10 of the world rankings,” he says, citing natural talent as the foundation of her innings in cricket thus far. The part where she bands together 11 girls on the pitch, each in a tempered dance of synchronised play, her own emotions even-keeled and stoic—that part, is all her.

When I meet her, she is on a rare 10-day break, visiting family back home in Sangli, where she’s been privy to her nephew’s first steps and first bat courtesy a cricket-loving grandfather), and now she’s making a pit stop in Mumbai to attend a close friend’s wedding. After nine months on the road, I love that off period when I can actually go back home and spend time with everyone. Being with family is like a detox for me.” Cricket, however, is always on loop. A women’s match plays on the hotel room TV as we decode footwork and fielding. And once she settles her 5’8” frame onto a couch with a mid-evening snack comprising a sandwich and fries, we begin meandering through her memories of becoming the cricketer she is today.