Smriti Mandhana
This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content. |
Smriti Shriniwas Mandhana
Contents |
Career
From the early years to 2024
Manuja Veerappa, March 19, 2024: The Times of India
Bengaluru: As a bespectacled 15-year-old whose talent was being talked about in domestic cricket, Smriti Shriniwas Mandhana had a tough call to make. Cricket or studies? Her mother Smita, sitting in their middle-class dwelling in Madhavnagar, Sangli, had more confidence in her cricketing talent than the gawky teenager.
She made the choice for her daughter — she would pursue a career in cricket. It was probably one of the best decisions taken in the Mandhana family.
More than a decade later, Smriti is a force to reckon with in her chosen field, an inspiration to a generation which dares to dream and a subject for many books including a 37-pager written by a 13-year-old. There is more to the elegant Indian opener than the feat of leading Royal Challengers Bangalore to the WPL title in New Delhi on Sunday night. It wouldn’t be out of place to say Mandhana is a seasoned campaigner. At 27, she has proudly worn the Indian cap for 11 years, playing six Test matches, 82 ODIs and 128 T20Is.
But the beginning was humble. It’s a tale of a diminutive girl, with unbridled passion for the sport, insatiable hunger for learning and big dreams amidst limited resources. The dream started to take shape when she followed her older brother Shravan, who played age-group cricket, to the nets and watched him put in the hard yards.
It started with her father gently lobbing the ball to Smriti, who wasn’t happy with his gentle deliveries. Once her father knew his daughter was cut out for more serious cricket, especially when, as a nine-year-old, she made it to Maharashtra U-15 side, the training turned rigorous. By the time she was 11, Smriti had made it to the Maharashtra U-19 team.
While cricket aspirants of her age were honing their skills in bigger cities like New Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru with access to renowned coaches, state-of-the-art technology and a competitive environment, Smriti’s was a different narrative.
Training at the Chintaman Rao College of Commerce grounds in her hometown under Anant Tambwekar, a star tennis ball cricketer of the region, she put in long hours, using taped balls for swing and wet tennis balls for extra bounce. The training began to show results and the first of the many feats came in 2013, when she scored a record unbeaten 150-ball 224 for Maharashtra against Gujarat in the West Zone U-19 tournament in Vadodara. There were three more centuries scored in the tournament and she followed it up with a standout show in the Challenger Trophy.
The year was also the turning point in her young career as she made her T20I and ODI debut against a visiting Bangladesh in the span of five days. Along the way she switched from aspiring to be a power-hitter like former Australian international Matthew Hayden to the elegance of southpaw and Sri Lankan stalwart Kumar Sangakkara.
A kind of player who makes scoring runs look uncomplicated, Smriti, apart from being a vital cog in the Indian team has grown into a sought- after player across the world. Along with Harmanpreet Kaur, she opened the doors for Indian players to the Australia’s Women’s Big Bash League in 2016, signing up for Brisbane Heats. Two years later she was part of the Kia Super League. Last year, in The Hundred, representing Southern Brave, she became the first player to score 500 runs in the competition. Apart from the runners-up finish at the 2017 World Cup and 2020 T20 World Cup, Smriti was also part of the Indian team which won the gold at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games and the silver at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
In the inaugural WPL last year, Smriti was the most expensive player at Rs. 3.4 crore. She put behind the disappointment of her team — Royal Challengers Bangalore — finishing fourth among five teams and focused on course correction. The rest is history as she lifted the WPL title on Sunday night, with the promise of more to come, not just for RCB but also India.
2018
ICC Women’s Cricketer of Year
Smriti is ICC Women’s Cricketer of Year, January 1, 2019: The Times of India
From: Smriti is ICC Women’s Cricketer of Year, January 1, 2019: The Times of India
Talented India vice-captain Smriti Mandhana was Monday adjudged ‘Women’s Cricketer of the Year’ as well as the ‘Women’s ODI Player of the Year’ by the ICC. Left-handed opener Mandhana won the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Award for the ‘Women’s Cricketer of the Year’ for scoring 669 runs in 12 ODIs along with 622 runs in 25 T20 Internationals in 2018.
Her ODI runs were scored at an average of 66.90 while strike-rate for T20I was an impressive 130.67.
Mandhana played a crucial role in India’s semi-final appearance at the Women’s World T20 in the West Indies, where she scored 178 runs in five matches at a strike-rate of 125.35. She is currently ranked fourth in the ODI rankings and 10th in the rankings for T20Is, the ICC said in a statement.
Mandhana became only the second India woman player to win an ICC award after fast bowler Jhulan Goswami, who was named the ICC Player of the Year in 2007.
2019
No 1 ODI batswoman
Smriti Mandhana becomes World No 1 ODI batswoman, February 2, 2019: The Times of India
From: February 3, 2019: The Times of India
See graphic:
Smriti Mandhana in ODIs, as on February 3, 2019
HIGHLIGHTS
Smriti Mandhana has moved up three spots to attain the number one rank in the updated ICC ODI batting rankings
Mandhana now sits above the Australians Ellyse Perry and Meg Lanning
Mandhana has scored two centuries and eight half-centuries in 15 games since the beginning of 2018
After scoring her fourth ODI century and an unbeaten 90 in the three-match series against New Zealand, Mandhana now sits above the Australians Ellyse Perry and Meg Lanning.
Mandhana, who has been in exemplary form in the one-day format, has scored two centuries and eight half-centuries in 15 games since the beginning of 2018.
Completing the top five, New Zealand skipper Amy Satterhwaite, who smashed consecutive half-centuries in the series against India, flew up ten places to take the number four position, while Indian skipper Mithali Raj moved down a spot.
Former New Zealand skipper Suzie Bates rose up one place to number six following her half-century in Hamilton, which propelled her side to victory in the third ODI against India.
Lizelle Lee of South Africa, Tammy Beaumont of England, Stafanie Taylor of West Indies and Chamari Athapaththu of Sri Lanka completed the top 10 list.
Indian young player Jemimah Rodrigues, who blazed an unbeaten 81 in the first ODI against New Zealand, made a massive jump of 64 places to take number 61 spot in the rankings. The 18-year-old has played just seven ODIs since making her debut in March last year.
Among the bowlers, Indian spinners Poonam Yadav and Deepti Sharma jumped five places each and now sit at number eight and nine respectively. Poonam took six wickets in the series against New Zealand, while Deepti picked up four. Ekta Bisht placed at number 13 after claiming five wickets in the series.
Celebrated pacewoman Jhulan Goswami, whose 3/23 in the second game set up the series win against Kiwi-women, raised one place to take number four and is the highest-ranked Indian in the top five. Sana Mir of Pakistan, Megan Schutt of Australia and Marizanne Kapp of South Africa are above Jhulan.
In the all-rounders rankings, Ellyse Perry has retained the top spot. New Zealand's Sophie Devine have moved up one place to take number nine, thereby pushed down West Indies' Deandra Dottin to number 10.
