Why should there be labels? : asks Smriti Mandhana

The Indian undoubted best opener Mandhana, who is recently going to be aired in the ITC Vivel advertisement asked for a crucial question. She was recently heard speaking about labels. Labels of her being called as a female cricketer. On her personal perspective Labels are a thing of past, and she would much appreciate her being called as Cricketer and not female cricketer.

This leading face of cricket has won many awards to top it all, is the vice-captain of Indian Women Cricket Team. She is one of the best opener and the highest run-getter in the ODI 2018 with 669 runs in 12 games. She is some vigilant personality who wished to rise above the existing gender biased norms and would love to defeat the social conditioning.

Proudly she is someone pursuing her dreams without any compromises. Mandhana said, “It can get taxing when you don't have to simply perform but also constantly justify your place in the game just because of your gender. It would get frustrating when my male counterparts were questioned about their game or performance whereas I was fielding questions on gender stereotypes and my ability to stay committed to the game on account of my gender”

The ‘Best Women’s International Cricketer’ receiver by BCCI in June 2018 she began pursuing the religion of cricket when she 6 years old. Her family who acted as the backbone supporting her throughout, are the only people she gives the credits to. Reliving her childhood she said, her father used to take her brother to train while Mandhana used to accompany them,

Her career included lots of hard work which eventually well paid off to her. “I used to wake up at 5 a.m. in the morning, wait for my brother's cricket coaching practices to finish just so I could play the 10-15 balls pitched to me at the end. That used to be the highlight of my day and as soon as I would finish my 15 balls, I would start thinking about how I had to better myself for the next day's 15 balls” Smriti said.

Citing her teammates to be a great source of inspiration and motivation she said, “It is an honour for me to be able to represent my country on an international platform. Apart from that, the adrenaline is so high when we are on the ground. It also helps that usually, everyone who is a part of the team is away from home, so we become each other's emotional crutches when needed,”