Dubai: India women’s cricket team vice-captain Smriti Mandhana still has many years left in her career, yet she has already started being regarded among the batting legends of women’s cricket. Naturally, when someone criticises her at a time when she is enjoying a golden phase, her fans are unlikely to take it lightly. Mandhana is currently going through a golden period, having become the highest run-scorer in women’s international cricket with 10,880 runs just last week. She has also set a world record for the most international centuries in cricket, with 18 hundreds to her name.
However, former India cricketer Anjum Chopra criticised Mandhana after she was dismissed for just nine runs against Pakistan on Saturday, falling leg before wicket (LBW). It is worth mentioning that Mandhana had been run out in both of India’s previous matches before Saturday. On Thursday, though, she had scored 124 off 64 balls, including seven sixes and 14 fours, against Hong Kong and was named Player of the Match.
Anjum Chopra, 49, represented India from 1995 to 2012, playing 12 Tests, 127 ODIs and 18 T20Is. She scored more than 3,500 international runs and is now a commentator.
On Saturday, India lost three wickets, including Mandhana’s, while chasing a modest target of just 56 against Pakistan. After India’s victory, Anjum criticised the Indian batting line-up and specifically targeted Mandhana. Mandhana had received a reprieve off the very first ball she faced, when an appeal for a caught-behind was turned down by the umpire. Speaking from the commentary box, Chopra said, “India (the team management) should seriously look at how their batters are getting out. If a batter who scored a century in the previous match gets out on the very first ball of her innings, it is very disappointing. It is a different matter that the umpire could not hear the sound of the bat on the cut, but we heard it. We also have microphones.”
However, Mandhana’s fans hit back at Anjum Chopra on social media. Some fans argued that Mandhana should not be criticised so harshly simply because she failed in one match. They pointed out that her impact in this tournament has been exceptional. A fan using the account name Peter Pan wrote, “What is this hatred for Smriti? Oh my God! Smriti baby, I wish you play with a lot of energy in the next matches, and I am also praying a lot for you.”
A cricket fan named Vipul Patel wrote on X, “What she (Anjum) is saying is completely wrong. Smriti did not throw her wicket away. I think this is some kind of jealousy.”