Smriti Mandhana and Ishan Kishan feature together in KBC and use two lifelines for a question related to legendary Sachin Tendulkar
Star Indian cricketers Smriti Mandhana and Ishan Kishan featured together in the latest episode of the renowned Indian TV quiz show Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC) on Monday, December 25.
Smriti Mandhana is the vice-captain of the Indian Women's cricket team, while Ishan Kishan is a regular member of the national men's cricket squad across formats. The duo kicked off the grand finale week of KBC on Christmas.
Mandhana and Kishan played the quiz well and ended up winning ₹12.5 lakh as prize money. They quit the game at question number 13, which was for 25 lakh, as they didn't know the answer and had exhausted all three lifelines by then.
Their last successful question was a cricket-related one, which was the 12th one for ₹12,50,000. It was: Which Indian cricketer made his Test debut in the same match in which Sachin Tendulkar scored his first international century?
The options were: Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble, Sourav Ganguly, and Javagal Srinath.
Smriti and Ishan initially used to call a friend lifeline, who said it might be Javagal Srinath.
However, the duo were not completely convinced and went on to utilize their final lifeline, which allows them another chance if they give one wrong answer. They went with Srinath on the first try, which was incorrect. On the second attempt, they gave the right answer - Anil Kumble.
Ishan Kishan recently returned to India from South Africa, skipping the two-match Test series due to mental fatigue.
Meanwhile, Smriti Mandhana played the Test match against Australia earlier this week in Mumbai. India managed to script history by beating Australia for the first time in the Women's Test. Mandhana played a crucial role for India with the bat in the match by scoring 74 and 38*. She also hit the winning runs in the second innings on the final day.
"It looked like a rank turner but batting wasn't as hard"- Smriti Mandhana after the win against Australia
After the conclusion of the Test match against Australia on December 24, Smriti Mandhana reflected on the win and the pitch, saying:
"Well I think, it wasn't that tough. When we saw the surface, it looked like a rank turner but batting wasn't as hard. The first innings when Deepti and Pooja got the partnership, for me that won us the game.
"I told Shafali that we would bat as we batted in the first innings, nothing fancy just playing according to the merit or the ball. She was unfortunate to get out after getting underway with a boundary."
Smriti Mandhana will be back on the field on December 28 when the three-match ODI series against Australia commences in Mumbai.