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Name: Smriti Shriniwas Mandhana
Smriti Shriniwas Mandhana, is an Indian cricketer renowned for her contributions to the Indian women's national team. Mandhana is associated with the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Women's Premier League (WPL). At the domestic level, she competes for the Maharashtra cricket team.
At nine, she joined Maharashtra's Under-15 team, progressing to the Under-19s at eleven. Her family plays pivotal roles in her cricketing pursuits, with her father overseeing her training, her mother managing her diet and attire, and her brother assisting with practice sessions.
In October 2013, Smriti Mandhana achieved a significant milestone, becoming the first Indian woman to score a double-hundred in a one-day game. Representing Maharashtra against Gujarat, she recorded an unbeaten 224 off 150 balls in the West Zone Under-19 Tournament at the Alembic Cricket Ground in Vadodara. During the 2016 Women's Challenger Trophy, Mandhana displayed consistent performance, scoring three half-centuries for India Red in as many games. She played a crucial role in India Red's victory in the final against India Blue, contributing an unbeaten 62 off 82 balls and emerging as the tournament's top-scorer with 192 runs.
In September 2016, she secured a one-year deal with Brisbane Heat for the Women's Big Bash League (WBBL), alongside Harmanpreet Kaur, becoming one of the first two Indians to join the League. However, her tournament was cut short due to injury after scoring 89 runs in 12 innings.Mandhana made history in June 2018 by signing for Kia Super League champions Western Storm, becoming the first Indian to feature in the league. Subsequently, she joined Hobart Hurricanes for the 2018–19 Women's Big Bash League season.
In 2021, Mandhana was drafted by Southern Brave for The Hundred's inaugural season, where she played seven games before departing for India's tour of Australia. Later, she joined Sydney Thunder's squad for the 2021-22 Women's Big Bash League season, where she achieved another milestone by scoring a century, equaling the tournament's highest-ever score.Continuing her association with Southern Brave, Mandhana was retained for the 2022 edition of The Hundred.In the inaugural Women's Premier League auction in February 2023, Royal Challengers Bangalore acquired Mandhana for ₹3.4 crores and appointed her as the team's captain. Leading from the front, she guided RCB to their maiden WPL title in 2024, finishing as the tournament's second-highest run-scorer.
Smriti Mandhana debuted in Test cricket in August 2014 against England at Wormsley Park. She contributed to her team's victory by scoring 22 and 51 in her first and second innings, respectively. In the latter innings, she partnered with Thirush Kamini in an opening-wicket stand of 76 runs, chasing a target of 182.During India's tour of Australia in 2016, Mandhana registered her maiden international hundred (102 off 109 balls) at the Bellerive Oval in Hobart, albeit in a losing effort. She was the sole Indian player selected for the ICC Women's Team of the Year 2016.
Mandhana returned to the team for the 2017 World Cup after recovering from an anterior cruciate ligament rupture sustained during the WBBL. She began the tournament with a crucial 90 against England, earning the player of the match award. Later, she scored another hundred against West Indies. Although Mandhana's efforts helped India reach the final of the 2017 Women's Cricket World Cup, the team narrowly lost to England. She set a record for the fastest fifty in Women's T20Is, achieving it in just 24 balls against New Zealand in February 2019. Additionally, she impressed in other formats, including a half-century against Australia in the 2017–18 India Women's Tri-Nation Series.
In October 2018, she joined India's squad for the Women's World Twenty20 tournament in the West Indies. Before the event, she was hailed as the team's standout player. During the tournament, she became the third Indian cricketer to amass 1,000 runs in WT20I matches. That year, she topped the run charts in WODIs, accumulating 669 runs at an average of 66.90. As a result, she was honored as the ICC Women's Cricketer of the Year and the ICC Women's ODI Player of the Year.
In February 2019, she was appointed captain of India's Women's T20I squad for the series against England. Leading the team at just 22 years and 229 days old, she took over from Harmanpreet Kaur due to an ankle injury. In May 2019, she was named International Woman Cricketer of the Year at the CEAT International Cricket Awards. Later that year, during a series against West Indies, she became the third-fastest cricketer to reach 2,000 runs in WODIs, achieving the milestone in her 51st innings.
In January 2020, she was selected for India's squad for the 2020 ICC Women's T20 World Cup in Australia. In May 2021, she earned a spot in India's Test squad for a one-off match against England, and in August 2021, she was included in the Test squad for a match against Australia. In that game, she notched her maiden Test century, becoming the first Indian female cricketer to achieve this feat in both ODIs and Tests in Australia. In January 2022, she was named in India's squad for the 2022 Women's Cricket World Cup in New Zealand. Additionally, in July 2022, she was appointed vice-captain of India's team for the cricket tournament at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England. Finally, she clinched a gold medal at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou.
Smriti has played 6 test matches and scored 480 runs. In ODIs, she has played 82 games and scored a total of 3242 runs. In T20Is she has played 128 games and scored 3104 runs.