The bespectacled adolescent ditched physics in favor of a possible career in hospitality, and he has no regrets. In fact, Smriti is only the second Indian cricketer to play in a foreign T20 league, has a World Cup century, another in Australia, and a double tonne in domestic one-day competition under her belt. All of this at a very young age of twenty!
Mandhana joined up for cricket trials as a nine-year-old for fun. She’d gone to enough of those sessions with her older brother to pick up left-handed batting despite being a right-handed batter. She was called up to the Maharashtra Under-19 team at the age of 11 and then to the senior team four years later. The youngster made her mark on the domestic scene with a magnificent 155 versus Saurashtra on her debut.
Mandhana scored 50 in her Test debut, and she was instrumental in India’s historic Test victory in England in 2014. She didn’t make it up to her potential in two T20 World Cups and her first WBBL stint, but she lit up the 2017 World Cup with two stunning knocks after missing over five months due to an ACL tear.
Mandhana’s assault on England in her World Cup debut came as a timely reminder of her potential, with one spot on the foreign players’ list for the second edition of the ECB’s Women’s Cricket League still up for grabs.
In a recent Instagram image, she seemed to have gone on a trip and was dressed in high-waisted jeans, a crop top, and a shrug, which made us feel all warm and fuzzy.
