India vice-captain Smriti Mandhana stated that the team has embraced the feeling of being crowned world champions while acknowledging the added responsibility that comes with it.
Last month, India clinched the 2025 Women’s ODI World Cup in Navi Mumbai, marking their first-ever ICC trophy in senior women’s cricket. “It feels amazing, to be honest (on being called world champions). I still remember that moment at the World Cup when our team walked out, and they announced us as champions – it was surreal,” she said.
“It’s been about a month now, and as a team we’ve embraced that feeling really well. But along with the pride, it also brings responsibility. It reminds us to prepare even better and to keep that success going because we’ll be known as world champions for the next few years. Hopefully the marketing team doesn’t let us forget it either!” Smriti shared in a conversation with broadcasters ahead of the third T20I against Sri Lanka in Thiruvananthapuram.
During the ongoing series, Smriti became the first Indian women’s cricketer to score more than 4,000 runs in T20Is. Although she is yet to score a fifty in the series, Smriti expressed satisfaction with her form in 2025. “For me as a batter, it’s about keeping things simple: reacting to the ball, backing my strengths, and not overthinking. If I do that well, I know I can contribute to the team.”
“I don’t like talking too much about myself, but I’m happy with how things have gone. This format is something I keep working hard on every single day, and it’s nice when the effort translates into performances,” she added.
India will aim for more silverware when the 2026 Women’s T20 World Cup takes place in England in June-July. Smriti emphasized that their focus will be on playing more T20Is leading up to the mega event. “We played a lot of ODI cricket leading up to the World Cup – almost a year of preparation. But we always knew the next phase would be heavy on T20 cricket, with the T20 World Cup, this series, and the WPL coming up.”