3 Olympic sports Smriti Mandhana would have been good at if she weren't a cricketer ft. Shooting
With the Paris Olympics 2024 in full swing, India is in a celebratory mood thanks to Neeraj Chopra winning a silver medal in the men's javelin throw event earlier on Friday, August 9.
This is Chopra's second medal in the Olympics after he won gold at Tokyo 2020; he was expected by many to repeat his feat in Paris but fell slightly short to Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem, who won gold.
With the mood in the country upbeat, one might as well make hypotheses about what our favorite cricketers would have chosen had they played an Olympic sport.
In this listicle, we feature our star female cricketer Smriti Mandhana and take a look at three Olympic sports that she would have been good at if she weren't a cricketer:
#1 Shooting
Shooting is a sport that one expects Mandhana to be extremely good at given how calm and composed her demeanor is. She is also good at reaching the targets she sets for herself and the teams she represents (pun intended!).
Mandhana has a steady aim towards her goals and is known to be extremely balanced in her outlook both towards life and her sport. Being balanced is important for being good at shooting, and Mandhana is excellent at that.
One also needs to be extremely patient in shooting, and that is a trait that the southpaw has in tons. She would have made an excellent shooter if she had not chosen to be a cricketer.
#2 Swimming
Mandhana is rather tall and athletic, and this means that she would be extremely good at the sport of swimming as well. The latter requires one to complete laps of the pool in the shortest time possible.
The Mumbai-born batter would have been brilliant at this sport if she had chosen to compete in it instead of becoming a professional cricketer. Swimming requires one to have a lot of endurance, and that is something the 28-year-old has plenty of.
#3 Table tennis
Mandhana would have been good at table tennis had she taken that sport up instead of cricket as it requires quick reflexes, and she has showcased how good hers are consistently.
Table tennis also requires its participants to make decisions quickly and possess excellent hand-eye coordination, and Mandhana has repeatedly proven her grasp of both the skills mentioned.
This sport is played at a high intensity over a short period of time, which means that the athlete participating needs to have quick bursts of speed combined with excellent reflexes, and Mandhana has both in plenty.