How Smriti Mandhana just gave young women in India and beyond the permission to put their happiness first

Dubai: In a country like India where young women and men are often rushed into tying the knot at an appropriate 'marriageable age' —sometimes at the cost of their own wellbeing—Smriti Mandhana seems to have chosen a different path.

India’s cricket icon, fresh off leading her team to their maiden Women’s ODI World Cup title, has shown that clarity and self-respect can sit at the heart of personal decisions.

On November 2, at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai, Team India scripted history. They lifted their first-ever Women’s ODI World Cup trophy, and the stadium roared with the collective pride of millions. Among the sea of celebrations, music composer and Mandhana’s fiancé Palash Muchhal was seen beaming, mingling with jubilant fans, and sharing Smriti’s extraordinary achievement with the world.

For the couple, November was supposed to be equally special off the field. Their wedding was scheduled for November 23 in Mandhana’s hometown of Sangli. Haldi, Mehendi, and Sangeet festivities had already taken place. But when Smriti’s father, Shrinivas Mandhana, faced an unexpected health emergency, the Indian vice-captain made an unambiguous call: family first.

Her manager, Tuhin Mishra, stated clearly that the wedding has been “postponed indefinitely” because Mandhana wants to be by her father’s side as he recovers. There is no drama, no shadow of uncertainty—just a daughter who has earned the right to decide when she is ready.

In a matter of few hours, rumours began circulating online, with social media users speculating about everything from relationship trouble to alleged infidelity. Such assumptions have become inevitable in the age of instant outrage and armchair detective work. But the only confirmed reason for the postponement — repeated by Mandhana’s manager and Muchhal’s family — was her father’s sudden health scare. In a media landscape hungry for scandal, Smriti’s decision cut through the noise: she chose family, and she did so without explanation, apology, or public theatrics.

And that choice matters.

Every Indian woman knows the pressure points: relatives, timelines, biological clocks, unsolicited advice, sudden ultimatums. Many are told—not so subtly—that their marriages are commitments to everyone but themselves.

And in the middle of this whirlwind, the moment the wedding was postponed, the internet did what it always does: it turned private heartbreak into public entertainment. Comments began swirling—some speculating about rifts, others even pushing unverified claims of infidelity. It didn’t matter that her manager went on record, or that families urged privacy—social media needed a villain and a scandal, preferably male, musical, and dramatic.

But here’s the thing: Smriti Mandhana, India’s run machine, walked away from that narrative.

Not because she’s cold.
Not because she’s dramatic.
Not because she’s indecisive.

Because she knows what matters — and she refuses to apologise for it.

Her father is ill.
Her family needs stability.
The wedding can wait.

In a culture that demands women “adjust,” “compromise,” or “move on” to save face, Smriti paused. Not to explain herself, not to clear a rumour, not to manage optics — simply to protect the person who raised her. That is a radical act in a society trained to ask women, “What will people say?” instead of “What do you need?”

When you carry a bat for a billion people, the world learns to celebrate your sixes and boundaries. But the real test of character is built away from stadium lights: choosing empathy over pressure, care over ceremony, and personal values over public expectation.

If there’s one message every Indian woman can take from Smriti Mandhana right now, it is this: Your life is not a deadline. You are allowed to choose.