"Elegance is not about being noticed, it's about being remembered."
These are the words of famous Italian fashion designer and founder of luxury fashion house Armani, Giorgio Armani. Though Armani has no relation to the sport of cricket, his words visibly reflect in the performances of one of India’s star cricketers – Smriti Mandhana.
Smriti was elegance personified in Derby on Tuesday night when she scored 79 off 53 balls to guide India women's team to an eight-wicket win and level the three-match T20I series 1-1 against England.
The Indian chase of 142 set by the hosts did not feature a single six, but Smriti proved that guile and grace could win games in the shortest format, and not just brute hitting.
Stellar 2022 for Smriti in T20Is So Far
Out of the 10 T20I matches Smriti has played this year, seven have been in England. Prior to the two matches they have played in the ongoing series against the English, India played the other five in Birmingham as it was the venue for this year’s Commonwealth Games.
Smriti, who was elevated to the role of vice-captain ahead of their Commonwealth Games campaign in July, featured in all five of India’s matches and was one of the best performers in the tournament.
She finished on a high with 159 runs, including two fifties at third place behind leader Beth Mooney (179 runs) of Australia and Sophie Devine (177 runs) of New Zealand.
Her impressive strike rate of 151.42 was the best among the top-10 batters and it came handy for her side many a time through the course of the tournament.
One such occasion was the semi-final clash against hosts England, where she hit a quickfire 61 off just 32 balls, helping India record a narrow four-run win and secure the last-two spot.
Though India lost to eventual winners Australia, there were a lot of positives to take with Smriti’s fine form at the top of the order being the most notable of all.
Maintaining High Strike Rate With Ease
Following her exploits with the willow in the Commonwealth Games, Smriti decided to rub shoulders with a few of the top female cricketers in the world in ‘The Hundred’ tournament organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board.
She left off from where she started, smashing 46 off 25 balls in her side Southern Brave’s second match of The Hundred 2022 edition. Though her form deteriorated in the final stages, Mandhana still managed to finish as her side’s top scorer in the tournament with 211 runs in eight games.
Mandhana, who featured in her second season of The Hundred also managed to grab fifth place among the highest run-scorers in the event. However, what stood out was the speed with which she accumulated the runs. She had a strike rate of 151.79 – the best among the top-five.
With the advent of T20 cricket, maintaining a high strike rate has become more of a norm rather than a luxury and Smriti has managed to satisfy the aforementioned criteria with aplomb.
She is clearly not one of the hard hitters of the game but rather focuses on her basic cricketing shots and game reading to excel in a format that is gaining more popularity with time.
This was evident most recently in her displays against England where she cleared the boundaries with ease while still maintaining a strike rate close to 150.
India’s Torchbearer in T20 Cricket
Smriti leads the chart for the most runs scored in women’s T20Is in 2022 among Indians. The left-handed opener has 323 runs from 10 matches, including three fifties and a strike rate of 135.14 to her name.
She is closely followed by her captain, Harmanpreet Kaur, at the second place with 290 runs from 11 games. Her excellent form in the shortest format saw her rise to a career-best third in the T20 rankings just last month and it won’t be too long before she reaches the top.
Smriti is currently India’s third highest run-scorer in women’s T20I history with 2294 runs in 94 matches. Only former captain and retired legend, Mithali Raj (2364), and teammate Harmanpreet (2597) are ahead of the Mumbai-born cricketer.
Though Harmanpreet has not displayed any signs of slowing down, age is quickly catching up with the 33-year-old, which means Smriti is the future of Indian women’s cricket in T20Is. To say that she is India’s torchbearer in T20 cricket would, hence, not be an overstatement.
However, if that is to come true, Smriti has to follow in the footsteps of Mithali and her veteran teammate, Jhulan Goswami, who over the years have taught cricketers of all gender that fame and longevity comes with a cost – commitment and consistency.
If she manages to crack that code, the name Smriti Mandhana will resonate and adorn the halls of cricketing history in the years to come.
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