INDIAN cricket captain Smriti Mandhana has returned home after the women’s teams historic gold medal in the Asian Games.
The superstar came into Mumbai airport and was greeted by a large group of fans cheering and clapping the cricketer before getting gifts.
Smriti Mandhana with her gold medal after captaining India to a win over Sri Lanka in the Asian Games final
The star was greeted at the airport by fans who gave her flowers and a necklace
She was given a necklace and flowers before being hugged by several members of the crowd.
The cricket ace has been nicknamed the goddess since a young Chinese fan proudly held up a Mandhana The Goddess sign before a match.
The superfan travelled 1200km from Beijing to Hangzhou to support his favourite female player.
India and Sri Lanka played in the thrilling final of the Asian Games on Monday as India made history with their first gold medal in cricket.
The Indian team managed just 116 runs, losing seven wickets, but still held on to win.
They successfully defended their total as they won by 19 runs in the exciting battle.
Sri Lanka managed only 97 across the 20 overs, losing eight wickets in the process.
The player of the match was India’s future star, Titas Sadhu, who turns 19 this week.
She bowled an explosive game and ended with three wickets off just six runs.
Taking out Sri Lanka’s first three batters for a measly 13 runs.
India’s captain Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues both batted well, scoring most of the winning runs with 46 and 42 each.
Their crucial 73 run partnership proved pivotal in the match.
Sri Lanka’s top run scorer was Hasini Perera who could only manage 25.
India, who went into the tournament as favourites, played Malaysia and Bangladesh on their way to the final.
Smashing Bangladesh with 70 balls remaining and on track to a comfortable victory against Malaysia before the miserable quarter final was abandoned due to rain.
A win in the final came as no surprise due to India’s impressive record over their opponents.
Losing just four games in the pairs 23 previous T20 meetings.
The final, held in Hangzhou, China, was watched on by fans in the ZJUT Cricket Field as India claimed their countries second gold medal of the tournament.
Sri Lanka took the silver medal as Bangladesh claimed bronze with a win against Pakistan in Monday’s earlier game.
Earlier on this year, India’s ODI captain Harmanpreet Kaur got banned for two matches after an astonishing outburst that saw her swinging her bat at the stumps, sending them flying.
Kaur called the umpiring “pathetic” after the game after claiming she didn’t make contact with the ball when she was caught at slip.
The Asian Games caps off a brilliant summer of woman’s cricket after England hit the sexists for six after a nail biting Ashes series against Australia.
The Brits attracted more than 20,000 fans into the grounds for the closely contested matches which saw them narrowly miss out on the trophy.
Captain Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues won the game for India after making a 73 run partnershipGetty
The golden “goddess” led India to their maiden Asian Games gold and India’s second of the event.Rex