Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma roped in as Rario brand ambassadors

Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma are two of the finest cricketers of this generation who have been making India proud with some outstanding performances on the 22 yards in the last few years. While they have succeeded in making their bat do the talking, the duo is also a part of the cricket digital collectibles platform Rario.

Rario, which is co-founded by Ankit Wadhwa and Sunny Bhanot, is a digital collectible platform for cricket fans to collect and trade officially licensed cricket moments on the blockchain, represented as a Non-fungible Token (NFT). These cards can then be re-listed in the marketplace for traders to purchase and engage with. The two players were signed by Rario in mid-2021, and at the same time, it also needs to be noted that these two are the only women cricketers in the world who are a part of the brand’s NFT bandwagon.

Mandhana and Verma are a part of the Rario family that include renowned names in world cricket like Virender Sehwag, Shakib Al Hasan, Jason Holder, Aaron Finch, Quinton de Kock, Zaheer Khan, to name a few. Rario is the world’s first officially licensed NFT Platform which allows die-hard fans of cricket to treasure their favourite moments. In fact, the digital collectible platform has also partnered with a few cricket leagues – Legends League Cricket, Abu Dhabi T10, Lanka Premier League, and the Caribbean Premier League.

Recently, they also joined hands with Cricket Australia and Australian Cricketers Association that will now help the fans savour some of the moments in Australian cricket’s history in the form of NFTs.

What are NFTs?

Non Fungible Tokens (NFT) is one of the newest entrants in the world of investments and it has also taken cricket by storm. NFTs are nothing but digital data units stored on a blockchain ledger. Every single NFT acts as an authentication certificate that proves the asset is unique and it also gives sole ownership to the particular person that owns it. Also, the NFTs are stored in blockchain which is a technique of storing data and it also keeps the data safe from hacking or altering.

Rario has come up with different packs for the customers that feature some memorable moments of a player on the field. For example, MS Dhoni’s match-winning six, Rishabh Pant’s one-handed six, the famous celebration after India’s historic series win against Australia at the Gabba, to name a few. The interested fans can purchase any of the moments for a certain price. It also gives them the liberty to trade or sell certain cards individually for higher amounts in the market. These cards can be purchased with debit or credit cards.

Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma have made India proud in the recent mega event that took place in New Zealand. The duo stepped up when it mattered the most for the Indian eves with a 91-run opening stand in their must-win encounter against South Africa. While Smriti scored 71 runs off 84 deliveries, Shafali made a tremendous impact with a quickfire 46-ball 53 before a horrible mix-up between them ended the latter’s stay in the middle. She could have added more runs to her tally had it not been for that run-out where she sacrificed her wicket after her batting partner had found herself at the dangers-end.

Their solid foundation helped India post a mammoth 274/7 from their 50 overs. However, the Indians were let down by poor bowling and sloppy fielding as the contest went right down to the wire where off-spinner Deepti Sharma was given the responsibility to contain the Proteas batters in the last over. While she did keep things tight, her delivery to dismiss Mignon du Preez was signalled as a front foot no-ball which cost India the match, as well as a semis spot, as the Mithali Raj-led side exited the tournament with a heart-breaking three-wicket loss.