India's women cricketers: breaking the male bastion
Amid the noise of celebration for the victory of the Indian Cricket team and Virat Kohli's big hundred, the women donning the same blue jerseys also triumphed over the same rivals in the same country but were not as celebrated as their male counterparts.
The Indian Women's Cricket team have been turning heads with their consistent performances and have had attracted the interest of those who thought women's cricket is just utterly boring. The women are marching forward, and it is just matter of time before they match the pace and walk shoulder to shoulder with the men in the world of Cricket.
Of the many incredible victories they have seen, yesterday's was something to talk about. Just like the Men in Blue, the Women in Blue too posted a score of 300 plus runs for the South Africans to chase, and the major contributor to set this huge target was Smriti Mandhana's fabulous 135 runs knock.
Talk of the town is Virat Kohli and his hundred, but just as majestic and unapologetic was Smriti Mandhana with her shining willow for punishing every poor delivery bowled at her by the rivals.
Mandhana has become an integral part of the women's team and at just 21 years and 30 matches old, she has shown the patience and stroke play of that of a seasoned batsman.
The southpaw justified her nickname, Lady Lion, while playing the second ODI versus the South Africans. She had unwavering focus in tearing apart the South African bowlers. Neither spin nor pace succeeded to make Mandhana retreat and think of other ways. Her mantra was simple, respect the good deliveries and punish the bad ones.
With each century, each fifer and each big victory the Indian Women's cricket team is demanding more limelight and the representatives are players like Smriti Mandhana and their classic performances in pulling the attraction.