'A big hug from me': Smriti Mandhana touches hearts as she replies to young Kashmiri fan

NEW DELHI: Indian cricketer Smriti Mandhana recently won hearts with a sweet message for a young fan from Kashmir. Filmmaker Kabir Khan shared photos from his visit to the region.

During his trip, he met a little girl in Aru Valley who told him that Smriti Mandhana was her favourite cricketer.



Mandhana, who is currently playing in India’s five-match T20I series against Sri Lanka, saw Kabir Khan’s post on social media.

She replied with a warm message that quickly went viral.

Kabir Khan wrote, "Walking with my camera in Kashmir always rewards me with magical moments. Like this little girl in Aru who wanted me to tell Smriti Mandhana that she is her favourite player. I hope Smriti gets to see this post. Or the boys whose playground has a mountain stream as the boundary. If you hit a 6 the ball will flow all the way down the valley into the Jhelum river."

Smriti Mandhana responded to the post and wrote, "Please give the little champ in Aru a big hug from me and tell her I'm cheering for her too!"

Her reply made fans smile and showed her down-to-earth nature.

Soon after this lovely moment, Mandhana created history on the cricket field. During the first Women’s T20 International against Sri Lanka in Visakhapatnam on Sunday, she achieved a major milestone.

She became the first Indian woman cricketer to score more than 4,000 runs in T20 internationals.

She is only the second woman in the world to reach this mark. New Zealand great Suzie Bates is the only other player to do so and currently has 4,716 runs.

Mandhana reached 4,000 runs in just 3,227 balls, which is faster than Bates, who took 3,675 balls.

In the match, Mandhana scored 25 runs from 25 balls before getting out in the ninth over while chasing 122. India completed the chase in

Though her innings was short, it was enough to create history. This was also her first international match since India’s ODI World Cup win last month.

Earlier, India’s bowlers put up a strong show and restricted Sri Lanka to 121 for six. Vishmi Gunaratne top-scored with 39.


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