Shubman Gillhas praised India women star player Smriti Mandhana ahead of ICC Women’s World Cup 2025. India, as hosts, will look to play a fierce brand of cricket and pull off the coveted World Cup trophy.
Mandhana’s form will be crucial for India as the opener’s responsibility will be to deliver decent starts to the team in the competition. Ahead of the crucial assignment, the left-handed batter exuded confidence as she notched up 300 runs in the three-match WODI series against Australia at home and ended up as the leading run-getter in the series. In the third WODI, she also racked up the second-fastest WODI ton in Delhi.
Shubman Gill, who is currently serving Team India in the Asia Cup 2025 getting played in Dubai, has equated Smriti Mandhana’s batting technique with that of Australia great Damien Martyn. "I think it is kind of Damien Martyn, how she plays. She has that slow, lazy elegance. Technique is something that gets you through tough phases. When you are under pressure or situation is tough, it helps you," remarked Gill while speaking to the BCCI Women's channel.
Smriti Mandhana’s batting numbers in Women’s World Cup
Smriti Mandhana has appeared in two Women’s World Cup editions, in which she scored 559 runs with two hundreds and three fifties in 16 contests at an average of 37.26. In the previous edition of the tournament played in New Zealand, India couldn’t reach the knockout stage and Mandhana was the most successful batter for the side, amassing 151 runs in four matches.
India’s best World Cup performance in the 21st century came in 2005 and 2017. On both occasions, India qualified for the final but lost to Australia (2005) and England (2017). This time, India will look to play quality cricket under Harmanpreet Kaur to script history. India will kick off their campaign in Guwahati on September 30.
