Former cricketer MS Dhoni along with Women’s Cricket team captain Smriti Mandhana (PTI)
Smriti Mandhana has revealed that former India captain MS Dhoni personally congratulated her after the Indian women’s team lifted their maiden ODI World Cup title in November 2025. India created history on November 2, 2025, defeating South Africa by 52 runs in Navi Mumbai to win their first-ever Women’s ODI World Cup. Batting first in the final, India posted 298/7, with Shafali Verma leading the charge with 87 runs and Deepti Sharma contributing 58. Deepti then delivered with the ball, taking five wickets as South Africa were dismissed for 246 despite a century from Laura Wolvaardt.
He revealed that she was the only member of the Indian women’s team whose contact number he had saved.
I was very happy that he used WhatsApp to congratulate all of us,” Mandhana said. I thought, ‘Let me send a message to Smriti’ and I mentioned, ‘Please wish everyone who is part of the team,” Dhoni said. “He actually did send me a message after the World Cup win. I know he does not use his phone a lot. Dhoni, meanwhile, offered an interesting explanation for choosing Mandhana as the recipient of his message. “I did not know anyone else’s (number) from the team. I wanted the message to go through. We had just shot (a commercial) before that. The triumph ended the team’s long wait for an ICC title.