Amitabh Bachchan Hosts Women Cricketers On 'Kaun Banega Crorepati' 1

India’s women cricketers’ popularity has been at an all time high following their heroic performance in this year’s World Cup.

After the team qualified for the main tournament by playing the qualifiers, nobody had given it even a chance of progressing from the group let alone make it to the final. However, Mithali Raj & Co. exceeded all the expectations, winning against the likes of England, New Zealand and Australia to set up a summit clash with hosts England. However, their inspirational run in the tournament came to an end with a heartbreaking loss to England by just nine runs.

Ever since the women have returned to the country after making it proud, they have got showered with praise and adulation. From cash prizes to luxury cars, they have received recognition like never before and the players, on Friday (September 1), had another memorable experience when Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan hosted them on the popular TV quiz show, ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati 9’. Mithali Raj along with Jhulan Goswami, Smriti Mandhana, Poonam Raut, Harmanpreet Kaur, Veda Krishnamurthy and Deepti Sharma attended the show and were a part of a new segment in the series, titled ‘Nayi Chaah Nahi Raah.’

The players received a warm welcome from Amitabh Bachchan before they took the ‘hot seat.’ Smriti and Poonam were the first to try their luck and were followed by Mithali and Veda. During the game, the Bollywood actor also asked Mithali how she began playing the game, to which she replied that her dad intentionally got her admitted to a cricket academy.

Later, Jhulan and Harmanpreet Kaur occupied the hot seat and helped the team to win Rs. 3.2 lakh. Amitabh Bachchan also surprised the cricketers by calling singer Arijit Singh who sang Channa Mereya for Smriti.

Deepti and Mithali then won Rs 6.4 lakh on the question: “Which Bharat Ratna dedicated his award to his mother and ‘all the mothers who sacrificed their wishes for their children?’ “. The duo did not know the answer but managed to answer it correctly after using a lifeline and calling their coach Tushar Arothe who was the special guest. The amount won by the players would go to an NGO.