India hammered Sri Lanka by 147 runs in the final to successfully defend the gold medal.
India won its first gold medal at the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, thanks to a clinical performance by the women's cricket team on Tuesday (September 22).
The Harmanpreet Kaur-led side hammered Sri Lanka by 147 runs in the final to successfully defend the gold medal they won at the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou.
Following their back-to-back continental triumphs, star opener Smriti Mandhana has shifted the focus toward a much bigger global ambition -- the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
Mandhana noted that while successive Asiad titles are massive confidence boosters, the team cannot dwell on this success. For her, world cricket offers steeper competition and building momentum over the next two years is vital for challenging for the ultimate prize at the Olympics.
"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, as quoted by PTI.
"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 added.
In the gold medal match, India posted 216/3—the highest total in Asian Games cricket history. Mandhana spearheaded the innings with a brilliant 79 off 45 balls, complemented by Shafali Verma's explosive 48 off 29 balls and an unbeaten 49 off 22 balls from Richa Ghosh.
The Indian bowling unit then completely dismantled the Sri Lankan lineup, bundling them out for a mere 69 runs in 15.4 overs. Deepti Sharma led with 3 wickets for 6 runs, while Shafali, Shree Charani, and Shreyanka Patil choked the run flow by picking up two wickets each.
While acknowledging the collective effort, Mandhana said the team will need to keep on playing good cricket against stronger global opposition.
This gold medal came right on the heels of India's dominant Women's Asia Cup title win in Dubai earlier this month.
Mandhana also pointed out the difference between winning Asian Games gold and cricket-only tournament like Asia Cup.
"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," she remarked.
The southpaw revealed that she relies on simple meditation and focused breath work to find calm and break out of negative emotional cycles.
"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."
(With PTI Inputs)