Had Goosebumps when Neeraj Chopra won gold, India have the opportunity to be there at CWG: Smriti Mandhana
India Today
India women's cricket team vice-captain Smriti Mandhana has said her side will not just be aiming for a podium finish at the Commonwealth Games here, and that the aim was to win gold at the quadrennial showpiece beginning on July 29.
India women's cricket team vice-captain Smriti Mandhana revealed that she had goosebumps watching Neeraj Chopra wear the gold medal, standing at the Tokyo Olympics podium with the national anthem playing at the stadium. The India women’s team vice-captain now wants to experience the same going into the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
The Indian women's cricket team will start their campaign at the Commonwealth Games against Australia on Friday, July 29, as cricket is returning to CWG for the first time in 24 years, with the first women's tournament to be played out at the multi-sport event. Eight sides will take part in 16 matches at Edgbaston, with a winner crowned and all the medals finalised on August 7. India are in Group A along with Australia, Barbados and Pakistan, while Group B has hosts England, New Zealand, South Africa and Sri Lanka.
We are aiming for Gold Medal at the Commonwealth Games: #TeamIndia vice-captain @mandhana_smriti. #B2022 pic.twitter.com/7Tsovu3Y12
"All the girls are really excited and we all know the feeling. We have all watched the Commonwealth and Olympic Games... that when the Indian flag goes up and we hear the national anthem, I think everyone knows that feeling and definitely we are aiming for gold," said Mandhana in a video posted by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
"I don't think we'll just look for a podium finish because when that flag goes higher and the national anthem plays, that's the best feeling. I literally get goose-bumps when I think about (javelin star) Neeraj Chopra winning gold in the (2020 Tokyo) Olympics," added Mandhana.
"So, definitely you know we have an opportunity to be there and try and do that, of course, not in the Olympics but at the Commonwealth Games. So we are all really excited and we know the groups (opponents). The groups were decided long back so we have our plans in place for Australia, Pakistan and Barbados. Hopefully, things work the way we have planned," she added.
Cricket has featured only once before at the Commonwealth Games -- as a 16-team tournament on the men's side -- at the Kuala Lumpur Games, back in 1998.
