When Smriti Mandhana made her India debut as a 16-year-old in 2013, she wasn't completely convinced yet that cricket was her life's calling. In fact, just a year ago, she had decided to forgo science for her tenth standard boards, just so she could dedicate more time to the sport.
It was not until India's tour of England in 2014 that Mandhana placed all her eggs in the cricket basket, ditching the hotel management course she once wanted to pursue.
Had you told that 16-year-old girl that in less than a decade, she would hold the record for the joint-most centuries by an Indian batter in Women’s ODIs, she might have shooed you away. However, that fantasy has come true as the Sangli-born batter now sits level with the legendary Mithali Raj with 7 centuries in ODI cricket. And, it won't surprise anybody if she doubles – or, for that matter, even triples – that tally by the time she's done with international cricket.
Changing the Fortunes of RCB
At the end of the inaugural Women’s Premier League season in 2023, Smriti Mandhana was facing the heat. Under her leadership, Royal Challengers Bangalore had suffered five straight defeats before salvaging two wins in their last three games to avoid the wooden spoon.
Mandhana, herself, cut a sorry figure with just 149 runs in the season, not managing even a solitary half century. Just 15 months have passed and the RCB captain has flipped the picture around completely, having led her side to the WPL title with aplomb in 2024.
At 27, Mandhana has had over a decade of international experience, having also featured in various domestic leagues around the world. She has over 3,000 runs in both ODIs and T20Is and can easily go on for another decade.
Mandhana's fan following and that of women's cricket, both at the international and the franchise level, are at an all-time high with the Cubbon Road and Queen's Road in Bengaluru littered with 'SMRITI 18' jerseys for the South Africa series – something one could only dream of a decade ago, with respect to the popularity of women's cricket in the country.
Scoring Centuries for Fun
Mandhana has been in her element in the ongoing ODI series against South Africa, smashing back-to-back centuries and a 90. It is not just the scores but the manner in which the runs have come that have further highlighted her prowess.
For one, the stylish left-hander does not know how to score ugly runs. Even if she spends 10 minutes at the crease, she's always easy on the eye and keeps viewers glued to the screen.
India found themselves in tight spots in both the first two matches. The team was reeling at 55 for 3, and then at 99 for 5, and could have been bowled out cheaply in the first ODI, had it not been for Mandhana's level-headed 127-ball 117 that ultimately guided the side to a massive 143-run victory. In the third ODI, her masterful innings of 90 off 83 balls, narrowly missing out on a century, spearheaded India's chase of 216.
In the second ODI, with India batting first again, Mandhana bettered her effort. It was slow going for the Indian side when they lost Dayalan Hemalatha in the 23rd over, with the score reading 100/2. The ball had been doing a lot of tricks on the M Chinnaswamy pitch in Bengaluru, usually a batting paradise.
Courtesy of the calm and mature nature of Mandhana's knock, the South African bowlers could not deal India some serious blows. Once the conditions eased out, Mandhana brought out her attacking game, ending up with a 120-ball 136 – the highest score by an Indian batter in a women's ODI game at home.
Guess what was the previous best? Mandhana's 117 in the previous ODI.
A Record-Breaker, in Every Sense
The Indian opener's 136-ball 171-run partnership with captain Harmanpreet Kaur in the second ODI makes them only the third pair with more than one 150+ partnership in women's ODIs. The duo is also only the second pair to score 100s twice in the same ODI innings.
Mandhana has also become the first batter from the country to score successive women's ODI hundreds. This has seen her climb to the third spot in the women's ODI batting rankings.
The left-handed batter capped off the series by amassing 343 runs. This tally set a new record for the most runs in a three-match women’s series, surpassing Laura Wolvaardt’s 335 against Sri Lanka in April 2024.
As if blistering tons against South Africa were not enough, Mandhana has been nagging captain Kaur and the Indian management to allow her more bowling opportunities as well. Bowling off the wrong foot, strikingly similar to Virat Kohli, Mandhana even claimed the wicket of former South African captain Sune Luus with her medium pace, which played a big role in India's narrow victory in the second ODI.
It is this hunger to not sit on her laurels and continue striving for excellence that has landed Mandhana in this enviable spot in the cricketing ecosystem. With the way her graph has been constantly progressing over the last decade, this seems to be just the beginning of a new chapter for the left-handed rockstar from Sangli.
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