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Following her side's win over Sri Lanka to capture the Asian Games women's cricket gold, Indian pacer Nandani Sharma revealed her mantra during the campaign: to keep it simple and stick to the basics.
Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma continued their exceptional run with the bat, taking India to a massive total, while spinners came into play to skittle out Sri Lanka for just 69 runs to win the gold medal match by 147 runs at Aichi-Nagoya on Tuesday. Speaking to ANI, Nandani said about winning the gold, "It feels very good, it is a very good feeling. It was the first gold medal for India, so I feel even more proud." On the advice given to her by the captain Harmanpreet Kaur, the 25-year-old said, "Everything was simple; we had to stick to the basics. It was simple, I did not have to try anything extra, I just had to stick to what was told to me.We were all very clear in our minds, everyone knew their role and what to do." Nandani said that she enjoyed the experience of playing under Harmanpreet. "Now I will rest for a few days, and I will go out (for travel)," she signed off. Nandani made three appearances in the tournament, taking three wickets at an average of 18.00, including best figures of 3/25 against Bangladesh in the semifinal. She also featured in India's Asia Cup title-winning campaign prior to the tournament, taking seven wickets in five matches at an average of 9.28, with best figures of 3/18 against Thailand. So far in 14 T20Is for India, she has taken 17 wickets at an average of 17.17 with best figures of 3/18. Coming to the match, India opted to bat first. Knocks from Smriti Mandhana (79 in 45 balls, with five fours and seven sixes), Shafali Verma (48 in 29 balls, with three fours and three fours) and Richa Ghosh (49* in 22 balls, with six fours and three sixes) took India to 219/3. Deepti Sharma (3/6), Sree Charani (2/13) and Shreyanka Patil (2/9) were the stars as Sri Lanka was skittled out for 69 runs. (ANI)
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