Smriti Mandhana aces Red Bull's unique cricket challenge on her 25th birthday

Indian cricketer Smriti Mandhana celebrated her 25th birthday on July 18. Known for her aggressive style of cricket, Mandhana has transformed herself into a vital cog of the Indian team in all formats. She was impressive during India’s recent multi-format assignment against England and also made her Test debut for the nation in Bristol.

On her birthday, Red Bull invited Mandhana for the “Cricket Challenge” as she took herself on in a “Smriti vs Smriti” battle. Divided into two rounds, she had to face 10 balls with no fielding restrictions, with three lives available in the first.

Smacking five fours and three sixes, she had set herself a 45-run target to chase in the second round, where the rules were changed and far more challenging. The entire field for the second round was divided into 12 zones, with the batter allowed to hit the ball in one zone only once. Further, there were five obstacles placed at different locations, hitting on which directly would lead to her getting out.

However, in the batter’s favour, there was a free hit available should she hit two consecutive sixes and there were bonus targets place on the field, hitting which directly would award her eight runs instead of six.

Mandhana started with three back-to-back sixes, followed by a boundary and a single. She missed connecting the next two balls before hitting two fours to bring down the equation to 15 needed off two. While otherwise an impossible target in cricket, she struck two consecutive sixes to earn herself a free hit as per the rules. Needing three off that, Mandhana smacked the ball into the bonus board to get eight runs as she bettered her round one tally of 45 to 51 to win the challenge.

Enjoy your game, the results will follow: Smriti Mandhana

After the challenge, Mandhana interacted with host and presenter Jatin Sapru, where she opened up on how she took up cricket. “I remember taking up cricket when I was five. My friends did not use to play cricket and there was nothing for women’s cricket at that level, so I often ended up playing with boys.”

On being asked what would her message be for youngsters that look up to her, she said: “To inspire someone is the biggest achievement. One thing I have tried to apply in my cricket or life is to enjoy myself, enjoy each and every practice session, try and go out there to do it for myself. If you enjoy it and do it for yourself, the result come.”

Watch the full film here – https://www.redbull.com/in-en/red-bull-cricket-challenge-smriti-mandhana/