“I got a chai cup because Smriti loves tea,” Jemimah Rodrigues says to surprise Mandhana on her birthday

As the Indian squad gets ready to play Pakistan in the Women’s Asia Cup 2024 at Dambulla, Sri Lanka, Smriti Mandhana, the team’s top batter, celebrated her 28th birthday on July 18. In a video that the BCCI posted on the occasion of India’s vice captain’s birthday, her teammates greet the batting star well and share stories about their friendship both on and off the pitch.

Images of Mandhana from her early years playing before she was selected for the Indian squad were included in the film. Her mother and brother, as well as India captain Harmanpreet Kaur, showered her with well wishes. Playing the guitar, Shreyanka Patil sang a birthday song alongside Jemimah Rodrigues and other colleagues. Jemimah made a hand-painted tea cup as the most thoughtful present to add to the occasion.

Cheers to Smriti’s birthday! Now that Smriti’s birthday has arrived, I felt it was only fitting to give her a thoughtful and labor-intensive gift. I grabbed a chai cup because Smriti enjoys tea so much. Smriti has reached her century now. That’s all of you in the stands applauding. Smriti’s jersey number is over here, number 18. And the highlight of the show, Smriti bowling. Considering that our madam buddy is now an all-around player. In a video that BCCI posted, Jemimah stated, “So yeah, this is a little something that I made for Smriti.”

Here’s the video uploaded by BCCI:

Smriti pic.twitter.com/fhO89v677c

— Alter EGO | Sanju (@me_sanjureddy) July 19, 2024

In a multi-format series, Mandhana demonstrates consistency.

Regarding cricket, Mandhana played a brilliant series against South African women in a multi-format that just ended. Before she was bowled out in the third ODI in the nineties, she became the only Indian batter to score hundreds of runs in two straight ODIs. After scoring 149 runs in the one-off Test, she maintained her excellent form in the third Twenty20 International, going on to hit an undefeated 54 to help India tie the series. Ahead of the pivotal T20 World Cup in Bangladesh, she will be hoping to maintain her scorching form in the Asia Cup.