Teary-Eyed Smriti Mandhana Reveals Hardest Night Of Her Life As India Cricketer

Smriti Mandhana teared up at a podcast [Source: Raj Shamani/YouTube]Smriti Mandhana has been in the limelight for both on-field and off-field reasons for the last year. She was one of the centrepieces of India lifting their maiden World Cup last year, after several heartbreaks in the knockouts; then a personal setback grabbed the media's attention later in the year.Almost 10 months later, Smriti Mandhana has opened up and spoken about the toughest night of her life in a recent podcast. Meanwhile, she also appeared a bit teary eyed as she thought and talked about it, which instantly grabbed people’s attention.Smriti Mandhana gets emotional speaking about her toughest nightThe incident happened in the middle of Mandhana’s Figuring Out podcast with Raj Shamani, where the podcaster asked her about her toughest moment or the hardest night.Interestingly, the Indian opener, who is in a fiery form recently paused to think, and it was clear she had tears in her eyes as she stared at the ceiling and tried to gather her thoughts.Her answer, however, revolved around the sport, and she clearly stated that she only wanted to focus on the game.“Hardest night? I am thinking. Probably like some World Cup [knockout] only. Lost and I have not slept. I will only speak about cricket anyways.”Also Read: Smriti Mandhana Joins Rohit Sharma In An Elusive List After Century In Women's Asia CupWatch the video here-What are the World Cup heartbreaks Mandhana referred to?Since Smriti Mandhana made her international debut at just 17 in 2013, she has been a constant figure in the playing XI, especially during the ICC events.As she mentions in the podcast, some of the major World Cup heartbreaks include the World Cup 2017 final, when India fell excruciatingly short of the title from a winning position. Chasing 229 on the day in Lord's against England, India had gone from 196/4 to 219 all out and lost the match by 9 runs.Furthermore, they got knocked out of the group stage of the World Cup 2022 in a dramatic final-over against South Africa, who beat India by 3 wickets.In the Women's T20 World Cups, India lost a high-profile final at the packed MCG in 2020, after getting bowled out for 99, while chasing 185. Mandhana had scored 11(8) in that match.Apart from that, they also lost the knockouts in T20 World Cup 2018, among the major heartbreaks mentioned by the India vice-captain.Mandhana resists speaking about personal issuesJust weeks after the World Cup ended, the left-handed opener had famously announced her wedding to Palash Muchhal on a reel with her friends and teammates. However, due to personal reasons, the wedding was called off at the last minute.Since the issue happened, the 30-year-old has refrained from speaking about it in public, and she did the same while speaking with Raj Shamani. After speaking of some on-field heartbreaks, she revealed how tough the COVID-19 period was for her and the team.“I mean, even Covid it was pretty difficult. Nothing [specific happened], but it is just that all that stuff was happening, and as cricketers, we were not in one room for a long time,” she said.“[As cricketers] you are always on the road, and all of a sudden everything comes to a halt. The first month we enjoyed, but then everyone is dying around you and so many vulnerabilities. That was a difficult time," Mandhana concluded.Also Read: Virat Kohli Snubbed As Naveen-ul-Haq Picks Toughest Batter And Ideal Teammate