International Women’s Day 2024: Cricket star Smriti Mandhana bats for inclusivity 

International Women's Day 2024 is celebrating inclusivity through the #inspireinclusion campaign and Indian cricket player Smriti Mandhana is right at the fountainhead of it.

The 27-year-old women’s cricket star was one of the five athletes from around the world who were chosen to be the face of the Women’s Day message campaign.

The International Women’s Day, observed on March 8 every year, promotes women’s rights and equality throughout the globe. Inclusivity is one of the core components of the women’s rights movement.

In the video posted by the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Friday, Smriti can be seen answering the thought-provoking question - What does inclusion feel like?

For her response, the Indian cricket ace holds up a heart which leads into the footage of her hitting a match-winning six. “It feels like winning,” Smriti declared.

Cricket is one of the five sports included in the programme for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics. To celebrate International Women's Day, women athletes from all five sports came out with one voice to send out a powerful message.

Mexican flag football player Diana Flores, American softball player Kelly Maxwell, Nour El Sherbini, an Egyptian squash player and Erica Evans, who represents Canada in lacrosse, also featured in the short clip.

"Watch us on the road to the LA28 Olympics. Watch us inspire inclusion for our fans and our game, the next generation. This International Women’s Day, we’re getting together to Inspire Inclusion today, so our sports can win every day," all five athletes, including Mandhana, collectively pledged.

Mandhana has been one of India’s most consistent performers on the cricket field since she made her international debut in 2013. She is a two-time ICC Women's Cricketer of the Year and is the first Indian women’s cricketer to score an ODI and Test century in Australia. She was also a senior member of the Indian team that won the gold medal at the Asian Games 2023 and silver at the Commonwealth Games 2022.

At LA28, Cricket will be making its return to the Olympics after 128 years. The sport was part of the Olympic programme at the 1900 Olympics in Paris, where only two men’s teams - one from Great Britain and one from France - engaged in a two-day Test match.

Cricket at LA 2028, however, will be played in the T20 format and separate competitions will be held for men and women.