"Let’s not look for the next big star so soon" - Anjum Chopra on who can be the next Smriti Mandhana and Harmanpreet Kaur in India women's team

Former India women’s captain Anjum Chopra reckons that it is too early to earmark youngsters as the next Smriti Mandhana or Harmanpreet Kaur. According to her, the two experienced cricketers themselves need to go from being star players to superstar performers.

Mandhana and Kaur have been India women’s standout batters in recent years, apart from the now-retired Mithali Raj. Mandhana has scored 2892 runs in 74 ODIs and 2192 runs in 92 T20Is. Kaur, meanwhile, has 3101 runs from 121 ODIs and 2548 runs in 129 T20Is.

In a Q&A session on her YouTube channel, Chopra was asked who could be the next Mandhana and Kaur of Indian women’s cricket. She replied:

“We like making cricketers stars, and both Smriti Mandhana and Harmanpreet Kaur are star players. But, let’s give them some time to become superstars. I want these players to shine even more so that the other players in the team can also be inspired to do better.”

The 45-year-old added:

“Let’s not look for the next big star so soon. First, let these two players come up with superstar performances on a consistent basis. Let others also come up with star-studded performances. After a few years, when these players are doing really well, we can debate who is the next big star or superstar in the Indian women’s team.”

Mandhana scored 159 runs in five innings at a strike rate of 151.43 in the recently concluded Commonwealth Games (CWG) 2022. Kaur contributed 137 runs in four innings at a strike rate of 139.80.

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“They could and should have won both the finals” - Anjum Chopra on India women’s habit of choking

Despite impressive efforts from Mandhana and Kaur, India women once again failed to get over the line in the CWG 2022 final. They went down to Australia women by nine runs despite being in a commanding position at one point.

Speaking about India women’s habit of choking in finals, Chopra said:

“I agree that India are not able to conquer the final frontier. I played in India’s first 50-over World Cup final in 2005. And I admit that India looked different on that day. But coming to the 2017 final, India conceded the match. Same in the Commonwealth final. They could and should have won both the finals.”

Chasing 162 to claim gold at CWG 2022, India women were on course for victory at 118 for two. However, they lost eight wickets for 34 runs and were forced to settle for silver.