Smriti Mandhana: The Simple Routine That Turned Big Dreams Into Reality

Smriti Mandhana: Smriti Mandhana has spoken about the unusual routine she followed as a young cricketer, revealing how writing down her dreams and visualising them became part of her journey. The India opener recently discussed the practice during a conversation with Raj Shamani, offering a glimpse into the mindset she developed away from the cricket field.

The story goes back to the time when Mandhana was still working her way toward the top level. Her coach introduced her to manifestation exercises after showing her the film The Secret. One of the tasks was simple: write down the achievements she wanted as though they had already happened.

Among the statements she wrote were goals such as becoming the ICC’s No. 1 batter and winning the World Cup. She would then keep the paper under her pillow before going to sleep. Mandhana admitted that the exercise initially felt a little silly to her. But as some of the targets she had written eventually became reality, she said she began taking the practice more seriously.

There was another goal that carried much more personal meaning.

Mandhana’s family had lived in a rented house, and as a teenager she wanted to buy a home for her parents. According to her account, she was around 13 when she wrote a blank cheque as part of the visualisation exercise. Instead of treating it as an ordinary piece of paper, she used it to represent the home she hoped to give her family one day.

She placed the blank cheque where she could see it regularly. The idea was to keep the goal in front of her rather than allowing it to become just another childhood wish. Five years later, at the age of 18, Mandhana said she was able to buy a house for her parents.

For Mandhana, the significance of that memory appears to go beyond the manifestation exercise itself. The goal was closely connected to watching her parents work hard while the family was living in a rented home. That made the dream of owning a house deeply personal from the beginning.

Her recent comments have attracted attention because of how closely some of those early ambitions now resemble milestones from her cricket career. India won their first ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup in 2025, with Mandhana contributing 45 in the final against South Africa. She also finished that tournament with 434 runs, the highest tally by a batter in a single edition of the Women’s World Cup at that time.

Her run of success has continued into 2026. In the Women’s Asia Cup, Mandhana scored 59 in India’s 72-run win over Sri Lanka in the final, helping the team claim a record-extending eighth title. Earlier in the tournament, she also scored 124 against Hong Kong and moved past Mithali Raj to become the leading run-scorer in women’s international cricket.

That makes the old piece of paper an interesting part of her story. It was not a scorecard, a contract or a selection letter. It was simply a written picture of the future she wanted.

Mandhana’s account also highlights the difference between having a goal and repeatedly reminding yourself of it. Writing something down gave her a clear target to think about, while her cricket career still required years of training, competition, discipline and performances on the field.

The psychological side of visualisation is often discussed in sports because athletes use mental rehearsal and goal-setting to prepare for situations before they happen. However, these techniques should not be treated as a guarantee that a desired outcome will automatically occur. In Mandhana’s case, the practice formed one part of a much larger journey that included sustained cricket training and competitive experience.

Her story therefore has two very different pieces that eventually meet at the same point: a young girl imagining the player she wanted to become and a teenager imagining a home for her parents. Years later, both goals had moved from paper into her real life.

Mandhana’s latest revelation gives those achievements a personal backstory. Long before the records, trophies and international milestones, there was a simple habit of writing down what she wanted and keeping that vision in front of her.