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"Give this little champ a big hug…": Smriti Mandhana smitten by young fan in Kashmir

Aakash Saini

Smriti Mandhana and a young fan [Source: Kabir Khan Instagram, @mufaddal_vohra/x]Smriti Mandhana and a young fan [Source: Kabir Khan Instagram, @mufaddal_vohra/x]

A young girl in Kashmir has won over Indian women’s vice-captain and prolific opening batter Smriti Mandhana. In a recent social media post by Kabir Khan, the filmmaker shared pictures from his trip to Kashmir during which he met a young girl named Aru, who claimed herself to be the biggest fan of Mandhana.

The Indian cricketer took note of the social media post and expressed her delight while sending a heartfelt message for the young fan.

Smriti Mandhana “cheering” for a Kashmiri fan girl

Indian filmmaker Kabir Khan posted pictures from his Kashmir trip on social media. In the caption, Kabir shared a picture of a young girl, named Aru, playing cricket in the region. The prominent film director admitted that he spoke with Aru, who claimed herself to be a big fan of India’s World Cup winner Smriti Mandhana.

Kabir Khan wrote:

“Walking with my camera in Kashmir always rewards me with magical moments. Like this little girl in Aru who wanted me to tell Smriti Mandhana that she is her favourite player. I hope Smriti gets to see this post. Or the boys whose playground has a mountain stream as the boundary. If you hit a 6 the ball will flow all the way down the valley into the Jhelum river.”

Smriti Mandhana took note of the social media post, and asked Kabir Khan to give little Aru a big hug. In the comments, Mandhana wrote:

“Please give the little champ in Aru a big hug from me and tell her I’m cheering for her too!”

Smriti Mandhana is eying her return to competitive cricket after winning the 2025 ICC Women’s World Cup for the Indian Women's team last month.

Under the leadership of Harmanpreet Kaur, Team India kicked off its white-ball home series against Sri Lanka on Sunday, December 21.