“Till I was batting, I didn’t know what record because I didn’t know what’s the exact runs or all of that,” Mandhana said after the match in Dubai. “But yeah, looking back, definitely a very good day for Indian cricket, I would say. Of course, Mithali di has been such a legend and a role model, and we’ve all grown up watching her bat, so to go past her in the tally of runs is [something] I definitely never imagined to do. But happy that there are two Indians at the top two.”
Mandhana also has a record 18 centuries in international cricket, overtaking Meg Lanning and Laura Wolvaardt who have 17 each. Mandhana has 14 ODI centuries – one behind Lanning at the top – and two each in Tests and T20Is.
“Going past the international record of the centuries, I mean, 18 is a good number to go past, firstly I will say that,” Mandhana said. “But again, two of the legends of women’s cricket, Meg Lanning and Mithali Raj. Genuinely, these are the two people who I have grown up watching a lot of my cricket, tried to take a lot of things from them as batters. So really happy that I could go past them in whatever way. But again, it’s just the start I would say.”
Mandhana batted for nearly an hour and a half after India were put in to bat by Hong Kong. She struck 14 fours and seven sixes, which meant she ran only 26 of her runs on a hot and humid night.
“Yeah, it did feel like a steam box today,” she said. “Dubai again with the Dubai heat and the humidity, it can get a little tougher. But I was lucky I got few fours and sixes, and I didn’t have to run a lot of twos on the field. Definitely, I would say, a little testing conditions to be batting for a long time.”
“I wouldn’t say that it’s easy conditions to bat out there,” Mandhana said. “We know it can be a little tricky and definitely I am not the one to come in the press conferences and talk about or name anyone in that way. But having said that, I think everyone is a world-class batter in the middle order as well, and there’s no doubt about it that they’ll be able to adapt.”
India next play Pakistan on Saturday before the semi-finals on September 10 and 11.
