Nagoya, Sep 22 (PTI) Star India batter Smriti Mandhana on Tuesday said that the team will need to continue doing well in the next two years to win a gold in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics as the tournament there will be much tougher than the Asian Games.
India won their second consecutive gold in the Asian Games after beating Sri Lanka by 147 runs in the final here.
“See, (compared to) Asian Games, I would say, in world cricket, I feel we have better competitions coming. So it’s a big challenge going into World Cup or winning Olympics. So we’ll have to keep getting better and keep working. We can’t dwell on this victory a lot,” Mandhana said after helping Indian win the gold with a 45-ball 79.
“So yeah, we have to keep getting better and see what we can do for the next 1.5-2 years to get in the best place to win an Olympic medal.
“It’s a good thing to win the first gold for India (in this edition). I’m really happy that we all could get the medal tally and we keep going on this.”
She said everyone in the team contributed well in the victory but will need to keep on playing good cricket against better opposition.
Asked what is difference between winning Asian Games gold and cricket-only tournament like Asia Cup, she said, “I think you just tally to the gold and come as an Indian contingent. It’s like only cricket tournament here, it’s a different feeling.
“Because when you win a medal, you contribute to the Indian contingent, which is a pretty different thing.
“Both are special, but when you have that national flag going higher like that and have the national anthem play, I think it’s a really proud moment.”
On a simple habit that she usually do to get out of a bad phase, “I like meditating, which is good for me. So I do a little bit of meditation and breath work.
“Well, for me, cricket is two lives for me. There’s one on the field and one off the field. So there’s one rule of my life that I don’t like to carry anything cricket off the field.”