Upcoming woman cricketer Kiran Navgire names MS Dhoni as her idol; says Mandhana is like Kohli

Image Source : IANS, GETTY Kiran Navgire, MS Dhoni

There is no doubt about the fact that Kiran Navgire is the next big thing in Women's cricket. Her phenomenal ability was on full display when she smashed 69 for Velocity in the Women's T20 Challenge at Pune last year.

Now, in a conversation on a show on JioCinema, Navgire opened up about how she started her cricketing journey and the players she idolises. "I only followed MS Dhoni and didn't watch many others, but I did watch Chris Gayle and Virender Sehwag. These three players have been my idols in my cricket journey."

The 2011 World Cup

Kiran is the only Indian cricketer to score more than 150 runs in a T20 game. She added that she started following MS Dhoni after the 2011 World Cup, but didn't even know if there was anything called women's cricket.

"Watching India win the 2011 Men's Cricket World Cup, there was one massive name on the team, Mahendra Singh Dhoni. I started following him in 2011 and I didn't even know that there was something called women's cricket. I watched men's cricket and played with boys in my village and started liking cricket. My father is a farmer and our family background wasn't good enough to provide me with equipment. But I knew I liked hitting sixes and told my coach that I will continue athletics, but I want to play cricket as well."

Mithali & Mandhana like Kohli & Tendulkar of Women's Cricket

Navgire further talked about how Smriti Mandhana and Mithali Raj advised her at the very start of her career, adding that duo is like Kohli and Tendulkar of women's cricket. "My first ball in my state-level debut went out of the ground, so Mithali didi complimented my strength and told me I could succeed in cricket. Smriti Mandhana was also there, and she told me that if I worked on improving my skills, I could play more cricket. Mandhana and Raj are the Virat Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar of women's cricket," the batter said.

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"Many girls like me are very excited because we get fewer matches to play in for domestic ODIs and T20s. This is a great platform for women to play against and alongside international players to learn and develop new routines," she concluded.