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Indian cricketers Smriti Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues received a warm reception from their family and friends at the Mumbai Airport as they returned from China on Tuesday night. The team finished on the podium at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou and won the gold medal.
Smriti Mandhana led the Indian side in the Quarter-final and Semi-final fixtures as regular captain Harmanpreet Kaur was serving a two-match ban. Kaur returned and captained the side in the summit clash against Sri Lanka on Monday, September 25.
India beat the Islanders in the final by successfully defending the 117-run target. Mandhana was the top scorer of the contest for the Women in Blue with her knock of 46(45).
Jemimah Rodrigues also put forth a good performance, scoring 42 runs off 40 deliveries. The duo played a crucial role in the win with their match-defining partnership of 73 runs for the third wicket.
You can watch the reception of the Indian players at Mumbai Airport in the below posts:
"Really happy that we could contribute to the medal tally of the Indian contingent": Smriti Mandhana on winning the Gold medal at the Asian Games
India vice-captain Smriti Mandhana expressed satisfaction with the team's performance at the Asian Games and was glad that the team could manage to contribute to the nation's medal tally. Revealing that it was a special feeling to achieve the feat, Smriti said:
"This is very special. We have seen this on TV in the past. When Neeraj Chopra won the gold, I had a match...The manner in which national anthem was played and India's national flag went up, I think it was pretty special and I had tears in my eyes."
"Really happy that we could contribute to the medal tally of the Indian contingent. Gold is Gold. Really happy that we gave our best in the final," Mandhana said after the win against Sri Lanka.
Notably, this was the first time the Indian Women's cricket team participated in the Asian Games.
