Winning Olympics gold will be a big challenge, need to keep getting better: Mandhana

Star India batter Smriti Mandhana on Tuesday said the team would need to keep improving over the next two years to challenge for gold at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, where the competition is expected to be tougher than at the Asian Games.

India won their second consecutive Asian Games gold after defeating Sri Lanka by 147 runs in the final here, with Mandhana contributing a 45-ball 79.

Mandhana said the team could not afford to dwell on its Asian Games success for long with tougher challenges ahead in world cricket.

"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," she said after the final.

"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."

Mandhana said she was delighted that India had opened its medal account in the current Games with a gold.

"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 said.

She credited the entire team for the victory but stressed that India would need to consistently perform against stronger opposition.

Asked how winning an Asian Games gold felt different from triumphing in a cricket-only tournament such as the Asia Cup, Mandhana said representing the wider Indian contingent made the experience special.

"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," she said.

"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 added.

Mandhana also spoke about how she deals with difficult phases in cricket, saying meditation and breath work help her reset.

"I like meditating, which is good for me. So I do a little bit of meditation and breath work," she said.

"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."