Indian women’s cricket team star Smriti Mandhana opened up about her admiration for former Australia captain Meg Lanning, recalling how the Australian batter became an inspiration for her during the early stages of her own career.
When asked by podcaster Raj Shamani on his show Figuring Out if she has compared herself with anyone, the Mumbai-born cricketer named former Australia captain Meg Lanning, but made it clear that she never viewed her as someone to compare herself with.
Instead, she looked up to and considered her style of batting and consistency something she wanted to emulate as she developed as a cricketer.
“I didn’t compare, but I looked up to Meg Lanning quite a lot growing up,” said.
“She was the Australian captain, and when I came into the scene, she was consistent at some next level,” she added.
Lanning’s ability to score aggressively, particularly her six-hitting, also left a lasting impression on Mandhana, who made her international debut in a T20I against Bangladesh in April 2013.
At a time when sixes were less common in women’s cricket, watching Lanning clear the boundary regularly stood out to the India opener.
“I saw her flicking bowlers for sixes, and at that time, in women’s cricket, not many would hit sixes. It has changed a lot now. But, at that time, it was like a new thing,” Mandhana recalled.
The Indian batter said those performances made her aspire to develop a similar ability with the bat. For Mandhana, however, Lanning was not simply someone she wanted to imitate. Rather, the Australian’s performances gave her a goal to work towards.
“I saw that, and I was like, ‘wow, man. I want to bat like that some day.’ So, not like a comparison, but it was like a goal, like you want to do something,” she said.
Lanning’s influence on Mandhana extended beyond her batting. The India star also praised the Australian for being a person who backs up her words through her actions.
“Mostly, she is like a walk the talk kind of a person. That’s a pretty cool thing,” Mandhana said.
The admiration became even more meaningful for Mandhana when she eventually got the opportunity to share a dressing room and open the batting alongside Lanning.
The two played together for Manchester Super Giants in this year, giving Mandhana the chance to experience at close quarters the player she had watched and admired while growing up.
“I played with her again. We were playing for Manchester Super Giants, and I was like, ‘wow, it’s cool’. We opened together, and I was like nice,” Mandhana said.
For the India opener, the experience represented a full-circle moment. Lanning had been an established Australian star whom Mandhana watched from afar during the early part of her career.
Years later, Mandhana found herself standing at the other end of the pitch, opening an innings alongside her former inspiration. “I was very happy and excited about it, I was like, wow, I have grown up watching her, and now I am batting with her,” she said.
Most recently, the 30-year-old broke Lanning’s record of most international centuries. She did so when she scored her 18th international century during India’s match against Hong Kong. Lanning had held the record of most international centuries (17) in women’s cricket along with South Africa’s Laura Wolvaardt.
Lanning’s impact on the game extended beyond her own performances, while Mandhana has subsequently become one of the leading figures of the next generation of women’s cricket.
The moment of the two batters opening together therefore carried significance for Mandhana, who was able to experience first-hand what had once seemed like a distant possibility: batting alongside a player she had grown up watching and admiring.
