Female viewership key to women's cricket growth, says Smriti Mandhana

Indian opener Smriti Mandhana hoped that the women and girls across the country watch as much cricket as the men---which is the best promotion for women's cricket.

Smriti Mandhana receives the Sportswoman of the Year (cricket) award from an eight-time table tennis national champion Kamlesh Mehta. Mandhana said, "It is a great honour. It will motivate me to do better and score more runs for India."

Indian opener Smriti Mandhana has had a great 2018 scoring 1,291 international runs across formats and has been the mainstay in India's batting order. The Sangli native was excited to be awarded the Sportswoman of the Year (Cricket) at the Sportstar Aces Awards, supported by the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy, in association with MRF.

“I would like to thank Sportstar for this. It will definitely motivate me to do better for my country and score some more runs,” Mandhana said.

“It is the oldest sports magazine we have in the country and it is a great platform for all the sportsperson,” the opener said.

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As former national champion and table tennis ace, Kamlesh Mehta, handed over the award to her, the excitement was evident on Mandhana’s face. The 22-year old spoke about the popularity of women's cricket in the country.

“The more people read about us or watch us play, it is better for women’s cricket. It will help more women to take up cricket and participate. It will be a good movement in India and hopefully, all the girls and women watch cricket as much as the men do. That will help us promote the game in the country even better,” she said.

After a long tour to the New Zealand, India’s women’s team will take on England at home from next week and Mandhana is looking forward to the challenge.