India women’s team vice-captain Smriti Mandhana makes her first public appearance after the cricketer called off her wedding with music composer Palash Muchhal on social media. On December 10, she alongside team captain Harmanpreet Kaur, attended the Amazon Sambhav Summit.
Talking about her thought process during the event, Mandhana revealed that she loves cricket more than anything, and the chance to represent India as part of the national team is truly a surreal feeling.
She said, “Well, to be fair, I mean, as Harman said, the love for the game, and I don’t think I love anything in life more than cricket. So, when you go out to bat or when you go out to represent your country, I don’t think any other thoughts are there in the mind. When you put on the Indian jersey, the only thing you want to do is represent India and win the match for the country.”
The batter then went on to reveal that wearing the Indian team jersey gives her motivation, and all her worries vanish when she is on the field. She feels lucky to be handed the responsibility of leading the team as the vice-captain.
On being asked about the team dynamic, the disagreements, Mandhana shared that everyone has their respective opinions on how to win for India, and that is not an issue.
“But genuinely, if we don’t have those discussions or arguments, we aren’t winning on the ground. Because if we do not have those sorts of discussions where we are disagreeing about something, that means we are not passionate enough to win the match for the team. So, we definitely do have those sorts of discussions,” she added.
Along with Harmanpreet, Mandhana will lead the team for the upcoming T20I series against Sri Lanka that is set to begin on December 21, 2025. The team returns following their triumphant victory in the recently concluded ODI World Cup 2025. India Women won the finals match on November 2 against South Africa.
