After Harmanpreet Kaur create history in July by becoming the first Indian Women’s cricketer to be picked by a Women’s Big Bas League(WBBL) franchise, there is now yet another Indian who will join her in Australia later this year.
Smriti Mandhana, the 20-year-old left-handed batswoman, has ben picked by the Brisbane Heat for the upcoming season. The news was revealed by the team on their Twiter handle, earlier this year.
Mandhana has been one of the best young Indian batswoman to emerge out o the circuit in the past couple of years. She played a key role in India’s Test match win over England at Wormsley in 2014, where opening the batting, she made a half-century in the second innings.
She also played a key role in India’s sensational T20 series win over Australia earlier this year and was also part of India’s World T20 squad that was played at home earlier this year.
In 2016, Mandhana has played in 10 T20 matches and has scored 183 runs at a decent strike-rate of 95.81. Overall, she has played 20 T20 games and has made 321 runs at a strike-rate of 99.07.
Reacting to the news, Mandhana said that the experience of featuring in the League at such a young age will keep her in good stead for the future and added that she was looking forward to going Down under later this year.
"It feels great to be a part of Big Bash.I'm very fortunate to have been signed with them.
I've always been looking forward to playing in that tournament. And getting this opportunity to participate at such a young age and getting to gain good experience from it, will help me immensely in the future,” Mandhana told Cricbuzz.
She is the second overseas professional to be picked by the franchise after West Indian Deandra Dottin and Mandhana admitted that she was looking forward to share a dressing room with her and pick her brain on the different aspects of the game.
"I'm really looking forward to sharing the dressing room with her. She is the biggest power-hitter in women's cricket right now. Playing alongside her, getting into her mind and sharing some knowledge (with her) will be a unique experience,” she said.
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