Smriti Mandhana (/smrɪ.t ˈmɑːn.dən.ɑː/ smri-tee MAHN-dən-ah;[1] born 18 July 1996) is an Indian international cricketer who plays for the national team.[2] She plays for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Women's Premier League.[3] In domestic cricket, she represents Maharashtra.[2] Mandhana has won three ICC Awards including Cricketer of the Year and ODI Cricketer of the Year.

Smriti Mandhana
Mandhana in 2019
Personal information
Full name
Smriti Mandhana
Born (1996-07-18) 18 July 1996 (age 28)
Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
BattingLeft-handed
BowlingRight-arm medium
RoleOpening batter
International information
National side
Test debut (cap 76)13 August 2014 v England
Last Test29 June 2024 v South Africa
ODI debut (cap 106)10 April 2013 v Bangladesh
Last ODI24 October 2024 v New Zealand
ODI shirt no.18
T20I debut (cap 40)5 April 2013 v Bangladesh
Last T20I9 January 2024 v Australia
T20I shirt no.18
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
2010–presentMaharashtra
2016–2017Brisbane Heat
2018–2019Hobart Hurricanes
2018–2019Western Storm
2018–2022Trailblazers
2021–presentSouthern Brave
2021–2022Sydney Thunder
2023–presentRoyal Challengers Bangalore
2024–presentAdelaide Strikers
Career statistics
Competition WTest WODI WT20I WBBL
Matches 7 88 145 38
Runs scored 629 3690 3568 784
Batting average 48 42.6 27.5 24.50
100s/50s 2/4 8/26 0/25 1/4
Top score 149 136 87 114*
Balls bowled 12 18 28
Wickets 1 3
Bowling average 13.00 6.00
5 wickets in innings 0
10 wickets in match 0
Best bowling 1/13 2/6
Catches/stumpings 1/– 21/– 26/– 12/–
Source: ESPN Cric Info, 09 January 2024
Medal record
Women's cricket
Representing  India
ODI World Cup
Second place 2017 England and Wales Team
T20 World Cup
Second place 2020 Australia Team
Commonwealth Games
Silver medal – second place 2022 Birmingham Team
Asian Games
Gold medal – first place 2022 Hangzhou Team
Asia Cup
First place 2016 Thailand Team
First place 2022 Bangladesh Team
Second place 2018 Malaysia Team
Second place 2024 Sri Lanka Team

In June 2018, the BCCI awarded her the Best Women's International Cricketer during BCCI Awards.[4] In December 2018, the ICCI gave her with the Rachael Heyhoe-Flint Award for the best female cricketer of the year.[5] In December 2021, she became a nominee of the ICC Women's T20 Player of the Year.[6] In December 2021, she, Tammy Beaumont, Lizelle Lee and Gaby Lewis were nominated for the ICC Women's Cricketer of the Year.[7] In January 2022, the ICC gave her the Rachael Heyhoe-Flint Award for the ICC Women's Cricketer of the Year.[8]

Early life

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Mandhana was born on 18 July 1996 in Mumbai, Maharashtra, to Smita and Shrinivas Mandhana, in a Marwari Hindu family. Her father worked as a chemical distributor, while her mother was a housewife.[9][10][11] When she was two years old, her family moved to Madhavnagar, a suburb of Sangli in Maharashtra, where she completed her schooling. She attended Chintaman Rao College of Commerce in Sangli.[12][13] Mandhana's father played cricket at the district level for Sangli, as did her brother, Shravan, who is now a bank manager. Watching her brother compete in Maharashtra state Under-16 tournaments inspired Mandhana to take up the sport. By the age of nine, she was selected for Maharashtra's Under-15 team, and by eleven, she was picked for the Maharashtra Under-19 team.[12]

Personal life

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Mandhana has been dating music composer-filmmaker Palash Muchhal since 2019.[14]

Domestic career

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Her first breakthrough came in October 2013, when she became the first Indian woman to score a double-hundred in a one-day game. Playing for Maharashtra against Gujarat, she scored an unbeaten 224 off 150 balls in the West Zone Under-19 Tournament, at the Alembic Cricket Ground in Vadodara.[15]

In the 2016 Women's Challenger Trophy, Mandhana scored three half-centuries for India Red in as many games, and helped her team win the trophy by making an unbeaten 62 off 82 balls in the final against India Blue. With 192 runs, she emerged as the tournament's top-scorer.[16]

In September 2016, Mandhana was signed up for a one-year deal with Brisbane Heat for the Women's Big Bash League (WBBL), and along with Harmanpreet Kaur, became one of the first two Indians to be signed up for the League.[17] Playing against Melbourne Renegades in January 2017, she fell awkwardly while fielding after bowling the final ball of her over hurting her knee. She was ruled out of the rest of the tournament which she ended having scored 89 runs in 12 innings.[18][19]

In June 2018, Mandhana signed for Kia Super League defending champions Western Storm, becoming the first Indian to play in the league.[20] In November 2018, she was named in the Hobart Hurricanes' squad for the 2018–19 Women's Big Bash League season.[21][22] In 2021, she was drafted by Southern Brave for the inaugural season of The Hundred.[23] She played for them in 7 games and scored 167 runs before leaving them for India's tour of Australia.[24]

In September 2021, she was named in the Sydney Thunder's squad for the 2021-22 Women's Big Bash League season.[25][26] She scored a hundred in the season, equalling the record for the tournament's highest ever score.[27]

In February 2022, she was retained by Southern Brave for the 2022 edition of the Hundred.[28]

In the inaugural WPL auction held in February 2023, she was offered ₹3.4 crores by Royal Challengers Bangalore, making her the highest-bid player in the auction and was also elected as the team's captain.[29][30] Under her captaincy, Royal Challengers Bangalore won their maiden WPL title in 2024, marking a significant turnaround from the previous season's challenges. Finishing the tournament as the second-highest run scorer, Mandhana played a pivotal role in RCB's successful campaign.[31]

International career

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Smriti Mandhana made her Test debut in August 2014 against England at Wormsley Park. She helped her team to win the match by scoring 22 and 51 in her first and second innings, respectively; in the latter innings, she shared in an opening-wicket partnership of 76 runs with Thirush Kamini, chasing 182.[32][33]

In the second ODI game of India's tour of Australia in 2016 at the Bellerive Oval in Hobart, Mandhana scored her maiden international hundred (102 off 109 balls), in a losing cause.[34] Mandhana was the only Indian player to be named in the ICC Women's Team of the Year 2016.[35]

Mandhana came into the team for the 2017 World Cup after recovering from an injury she sustained, an anterior cruciate ligament rupture, during her time at the WBBL in January that year. In her five-month recovery period, she missed the World Cup Qualifier and the Quadrangular Series in South Africa.[36] She began the World Cup with a 90 against England in Derby, in the first of the group matches. She helped her team win by 35 runs, and was named the player of the match.[37] followed by her second hundred in a One Day International against West Indies,(106*)


Mandhana was part of the Indian team to reach the final of the 2017 Women's Cricket World Cup where the team lost to England by nine runs.[38][39][40]

 
Smriti while playing in 2017 Women's Cricket World Cup against Australia

Smriti Mandhana scored the fastest fifty for India in Women's T20Is of just 24 balls against New Zealand in February 2019. In March 2018, she also scored the fifty for India in a Women's Twenty20 International (WT20I) fixture, taking 30 balls to reach a half-century against Australia in the 2017–18 India women's Tri-Nation Series.[41] The following month, she was named the player of the series, for the three WODI matches played England.[42] On 3 August 2018, she scored the first century in the 2018 Women's Cricket Super League.[43][44]

In October 2018, she was named in India's squad for the Women's World Twenty20 tournament in the West Indies.[45][46] Ahead of the tournament, she was named as the star of the team.[47] During the tournament, she became the third cricketer for India to score 1,000 runs in WT20I matches.[48] She ended that year as the leading run-scorer in WODIs with 669 at an average of 66.90. She was adjudged the ICC Women's Cricketer of the Year and the ICC Women's ODI Player of the Year.[49]

In February 2019, she was named as the captain of India's Women T20I squad for the three match against England. She became the youngest T20I captain for India when she led the women's team against England in the first T20I in Guwahati. At 22 years and 229 days, the India women's cricket team opener is taking over from Harmanpreet Kaur, who has been ruled out of the three-match series with an ankle injury.[50]

In May 2019, she has won the International Woman Cricketer of the Year awards at CEAT International Cricket Awards 2019.[51] In November 2019, during the series against West Indies, she became the third-fastest cricketer, in terms of innings, to score 2,000 runs in WODIs, doing so in her 51st innings.[52]

In January 2020, she was named in India's squad for the 2020 ICC Women's T20 World Cup in Australia.[53]

In May 2021, she was named in India's Test squad for their one-off match against England.[54] In August 2021, she was also named in India's Test squad for their one-off match against Australia.[55] In the first innings of the match, she scored her first century in Test cricket.[56] She became the first Indian female cricketer to score a century in both ODIs and Tests in Australia.[57][58] In January 2022, she was named in India's team for the 2022 Women's Cricket World Cup in New Zealand.[59] In July 2022, she was named as the vice-captain of India's team for the cricket tournament at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England.[60] Finally she won gold medal in 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou.[61]

She was named in the India squad for the 2024 ICC Women's T20 World Cup[62] and their home ODI series against New Zealand in October 2024.[63]

Awards and nominations

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Smriti receiving Arjuna Award from Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Kiren Rijiju on 16th July 2019
Year Award Category Result Ref
2017 Indian Sports Honours Emerging Sportswoman of the Year Nominated
2018 BCCI Awards Best International Woman Cricketer Won
ICC Awards Women's Cricketer of the Year Won
Women's ODI Cricketer of the Year Won
2019 Arjuna Award Outstanding Performance in Sports Won [64]
Indian Sports Honours Team Sportswoman of the Year Won
2021 Indian Sports Honours Team Sportswoman of the Year Nominated
ICC Awards Women's Cricketer of the Year Won
Women's T20I Cricketer of the Year Nominated
2022 ICC Awards Women's Cricketer of the Year Nominated
Women's T20I Cricketer of the Year Nominated
2024 ICC Awards Women's Player of June Won
Indian Sports Honours Team Sportswoman of the Year Won

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Asian Paints Presents Where The Heart Is Season 4 Episode 02 featuring Smriti Mandhana. Asian Paints. 8 March 2021. Retrieved 24 May 2024 – via YouTube.
  2. ^ a b "Smriti Mandhana's journey from following her brother to practice to becoming a pivotal India batsman". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
  3. ^ "Smriti Mandhana". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
  4. ^ "Kohli, Harmanpreet, Mandhana win top BCCI awards". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 7 June 2018.
  5. ^ "Smriti Mandhana wins Rachael Heyhoe-Flint Award". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 31 December 2018.
  6. ^ PTI (31 December 2021). "Smriti Mandhana among four nominees for ICC Women's Cricketer of the Year Award | Cricket News - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 2 January 2022.
  7. ^ ANI | , Dubai (31 December 2021). "Smriti Mandhana among nominees for ICC Women's Cricketer of the Year". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 2 January 2022.
  8. ^ "Winner of the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy for the ICC Women's Cricketer of the Year revealed". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
  9. ^ Patnaik, Sidhanta (7 September 2014). "Mandhana's journey from Sangli to England". Wisden India. Archived from the original on 9 September 2014. Retrieved 28 October 2016.
  10. ^ Swamy, Kumar (17 August 2014). "Smriti Mandhana logs Test win on debut in UK". The Times of India. Retrieved 28 October 2016.
  11. ^ "Some people would say that I will become dark in the sun, and who will marry me if I played: Smriti Mandhana". www.dnaindia.com.
  12. ^ a b Kishore, Shashank (18 March 2016). "The prodigious journey of Smriti Mandhana". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 28 October 2016.
  13. ^ Nag, Utathya (18 March 2024). "Smriti Mandhana: A pillar of Indian women's cricket team". Olympics. Archived from the original on 30 May 2024. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
  14. ^ "Smriti Mandhana, Palash Muchhal Complete 5 Years Together. This Post Says The Rest | Cricket News". NDTVSports.com. Retrieved 11 October 2024.
  15. ^ "Smriti makes good use of Dravid's bat, scores double ton". The Times of India. 31 October 2013. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
  16. ^ "Mandhana powers India Red to title". Wisden India. 25 October 2016. Retrieved 28 October 2016.
  17. ^ "India Women stars relishing Big Bash opportunity". International Cricket Council. 17 October 2016. Archived from the original on 24 December 2018. Retrieved 28 October 2016.
  18. ^ "Knee injury ends Mandhana's WBBL campaign". Wisden India. 15 January 2017. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  19. ^ "Records / Women's Big Bash League, 2016/17 / Most runs". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  20. ^ "Mandhana set to become first Indian to play in Super League". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  21. ^ "WBBL04: All you need to know guide". Cricket Australia. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
  22. ^ "The full squads for the WBBL". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
  23. ^ "The Hundred 2021 - full squad lists". BBC Sport. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  24. ^ "The Hundred: Southern Brave lose Smriti Mandhana and Harmanpreet Kaur for the rest of The Hundred". Sky Sports. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  25. ^ "Indian stars join the Thunder Nation". Sydney Thunder. Archived from the original on 14 October 2021. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
  26. ^ "Ultimate Guide: All you need to know for WBBL|07". cricket.com.au. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
  27. ^ "Smriti Mandhana hits WBBL record-equalling 114 not out". The Hindu. PTI. 17 November 2021. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
  28. ^ "Mandhana, Rodrigues, Perry commit to Hundred as England players eye moves". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  29. ^ "WPL Auction: Smriti Mandhana sold to Royal Challengers Bangalore for Rs 3.4 crore". Sportstar. 13 February 2023.
  30. ^ "WPL Auction 2023: Royal Challengers Bangalore Buys Smriti Mandhana For Whopping Rs 3.40 Cr". English Jagran. 13 February 2023. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
  31. ^ "The rise of captain Smriti Mandhana". ESPNcricinfo. 16 March 2024. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
  32. ^ "Raj key in India's test of nerve". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
  33. ^ "Nagraj Gollapudi speaks to members of India's winning women's team". ESPNcricinfo. 18 August 2014. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
  34. ^ "Australia Women ace 253 chase to seal series". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
  35. ^ "Smriti lone Indian in ICC women's team". The Hindu. 15 December 2016. Retrieved 7 April 2017.
  36. ^ Ghosh, Annesha (25 June 2017). "No more glasses, but same tunnel vision for Mandhana". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 25 June 2017.
  37. ^ Kimber, Jarrod (24 June 2017). "India provide the fireworks for Derby's big day". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 25 June 2017.
  38. ^ Live commentary: Final, ICC Women's World Cup at London, 23 Jul, ESPNcricinfo, 23 July 2017.
  39. ^ World Cup Final, BBC Sport, 23 July 2017.
  40. ^ England v India: Women's World Cup final – live!, The Guardian, 23 July 2017.
  41. ^ "Mooney, bowlers power Australia to six-wicket win". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 22 March 2018.
  42. ^ "Career highs for Smriti Mandhana, Deepti Sharma". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 13 April 2018.
  43. ^ "Mandhana Hit His First T20 Century In England". Naya India. Archived from the original on 4 August 2018. Retrieved 4 August 2018.
  44. ^ "Smriti Mandhana lights up Manchester with maiden T20 ton". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 4 August 2018.
  45. ^ "Indian Women's Team for ICC Women's World Twenty20 announced". Board of Control for Cricket in India. Archived from the original on 28 September 2018. Retrieved 28 September 2018.
  46. ^ "India Women bank on youth for WT20 campaign". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 28 September 2018.
  47. ^ "Key Players: India". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
  48. ^ "IND W vs AUS W, Women's World T20: Smriti Mandhana becomes third Indian batter to reach 1000 T20I runs". Times Now News. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
  49. ^ "Smriti Mandhana, Alyssa Healy named ICC ODI, T20I Players of 2018". ESPNcricinfo. 31 December 2018. Retrieved 1 January 2019.
  50. ^ "Smriti Mandhana, Youngest captain of T20I". indiatoday.in. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  51. ^ Desk, Sports Flashes (14 May 2019). "Kohli and Mandhana win International Cricketer of the Year award". Sports Flashes. Archived from the original on 14 May 2019. Retrieved 14 May 2019. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  52. ^ "Rodrigues-Mandhana partnership guides India to series win over West Indies". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
  53. ^ "Kaur, Mandhana, Verma part of full strength India squad for T20 World Cup". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
  54. ^ "India's Senior Women squad for the only Test match, ODI & T20I series against England announced". Board of Control for Cricket in India. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
  55. ^ "India Women's squad for one-off Test, ODI and T20I series against Australia announced". Board of Control for Cricket in India. Retrieved 24 August 2021.
  56. ^ "Smriti Mandhana scores maiden Test hundred in pink ball Test against Australia". SportStar. October 2021. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  57. ^ MyDigitalNEWS.in (2 October 2021). "Five Shocking Facts About Smriti Mandhana Becomes The First Indian Woman To Score A Test Century In Australia". My Digital NEWS.in. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
  58. ^ Mohanarangan, Vinayakk. "Data check: Breaking a record that stood since 1949 and other numbers from Smriti Mandhana's century". Scroll.in. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
  59. ^ "Renuka Singh, Meghna Singh, Yastika Bhatia break into India's World Cup squad". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  60. ^ "Team India (Senior Women) squad for Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games announced". Board of Control for Cricket in India. Retrieved 11 July 2022.
  61. ^ "Asian Games Results". 2022 Asian Games, Hangzhou. Retrieved 6 October 2023.[permanent dead link]
  62. ^ "India's squad for the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2024 announced". Board of Control for Cricket in India. Retrieved 3 October 2024.
  63. ^ "India's Squad for IDFC First Bank ODI Series against New Zealand announced". BCCI. Retrieved 9 November 2024.
  64. ^ "Shri Kiren Rijiju gave Arjuna Awards to Smriti Mandhana". Press Information Bureau. Retrieved 16 July 2019.

Further reading

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Preceded by
  Ellyse Perry
  Ellyse Perry
Rachael Heyhoe Flint Award
2018
2021
Succeeded by
  Ellyse Perry
Incumbent
  NODES
eth 1
games 10
News 5
see 2