"Something Very New": Smriti Mandhana On Being Part Of Commonwealth Games

22.07.2022 - 11:35 sports.ndtv.com

Cricket at the upcoming Birmingham Commonwealth Games 2022 will kick off with India's women's team taking on Australia on Friday, July 29.

For cricket, in particular, eight teams have been put together in two groups comprising four teams each, and India are placed in Group B alongside Australia, Barbados, and Pakistan.

The two medal matches are then finally scheduled for August 7. Ahead of departing for Birmingham, India vice-captain Smriti Mandhana addressed a virtual press conference on Friday where she spoke about the team preparation, the mood in the camp, and what it means for her to be playing in the Commonwealth Games. "Really excited to be part of the Commonwealth Games, it is something very new for me and the whole team.

We have never experienced going out there and playing a tournament where other sports are also involved. Definitely, looking forward to it and yeah, the preparation, Sri Lanka was a good tour for us, ODIs and T20Is, and also we had a fitness camp, few girls had a fitness and skill camp, we have been working on things that individuals need so yeah, the preparation has been really good ahead of the Commonwealth and I hope the preparation will lead us to get a medal back," said Mandhana while replying to an NDTV question during a virtual press conference.

cricket India Women on Smriti Mandhana Australia India Sri Lanka Pakistan Barbados

Indian women's cricket team played a nail-biting final match against Australia at the Commonwealth Games 2022 on Sunday. The Harmanpreet Kaur-led side chased a target of 162 runs and was in a state of bother towards the final stages of the game. This is when Yastika Bhatia changed everyone's expression in the dressing room within seconds. While walking out to bat in the game, Yastika tried to go over the advertisement board to enter the ground but her right foot stuck on the board and the batter fell awkwardly on the ground.

Canterbury-born Grace Balsdon helps England women's hockey team win Commonwealth Games gold for the first time in Birmingham

Canterbury-born Grace Balsdon helped England women's hockey team win Commonwealth Games gold for the first time.

"Every Time In Big Finals...": Harmanpreet Kaur After CWG Final Loss vs Australia

Heartbroken after a gold medal slipped out of their hands, India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur harped on the need to stop repeating same mistakes in 'title clashes', saying the "mental block" has to be broken, going forward. Indian team came to close winning coveted gold on women cricket's CWG debut but fell short by nine runs after being in a dominant position against mighty Australia. It was deja vu for Harmanpreet and Co. who had suffered a similar inexplicable batting collapse during the T20 World Cup finals defeat against Australia in 2020 and the 2017 ODI World Cup final in England.

"This One Will Always Be Special": PM Narendra Modi On Women's Cricket Team Winning Silver at CWG

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday congratulated India women's cricket team on winning a silver medal at the ongoing Commonwealth Games. Taking to Twitter, PM Modi said that cricket and India are inseparable and this win will always be special. India had lost the gold medal against Australia by 9 runs on Sunday at Edgbaston, Birmingham.

Watch: Deepti Sharma's One-Handed Stunner To Dismiss Beth Mooney Takes Internet By Storm

The gold medal match in the women's cricket event of the Commonwealth Games 2022, ended with Australia being crowned as the champions and India settling with a silver medal. Chasing 162, the Harmanpreet Kaur-led side faced a nine-run defeat in the thrilling summit clash against the mighty Australia. Despite losing, Team India gave their fans a very special moment to cherish and that was a spectacular one-handed catch by Deepti Sharma to dismiss Australia batter Beth Mooney.