Gone are the days when Indian cricket used to be all about the Men. With names like Smriti mandhana around, the Indian women cricket team has grabbed some big popularity over the years. That said, Smriti Mandhana is undoubtedly one of the most followed Indian cricketers across the globe. Moreover, with the inaugural women IPL kick starting on 4th march 2023, all eyes will certainly be on this Indian southpaw who will be representing the RCB franchisee. That said, we hereby take a sneak peek into some lesser known facts about Smriti Mandhana.
Key facts about Smriti Mandhana’s life
She’s the most expensive buy in the WPL auction 2023
RCB secured Smriti Mandhana with a huge bid of 3.4 crore at the recently concluded women IPL auction. This made her the most expensive buy in the auction leading to the WPL 2023. On the other side, she may also be seen captaining the RCB women side ( official confirmation still awaited).
Smriti belongs to a family of cricketers
You may not know but Smriti mandhana comes from a family that has got some good profile in the sport of cricket. Her father Shrinivas Mandhana and brother Shravan Mandhana have both played at the district level for Sangli.
While his dad was keen on making Shravan Mandhana a famous cricketer, it was Smriti who turned out to be more popular among the siblings.
Success and Smriti goes hand in hand
Women cricket is making all the big news recently in India but Smriti Mandhana is making news in the Indian cricket circuit since the age of 9. At such a young age, she got selected for the U-15 team of state Maharashtra.
Well, that’s not it as she further ensured her selection in the U-19 team with just being an 11 year old. On the other side, she has been the first Indian women cricketer to have scored a double century in a List A game.
During a match against Gujarat in Vadodra, Smriti Mandhana slammed 224 off 150 balls during the west zone U-19 tournament. We must mention that it was the same time when her brother Shravan Mandhana was also pursuing her career in Indian cricket.
Proving her mettle against the Best
Not many of Indian cricket fans know but Smriti is the first and only Indian women cricketer from the WPL 2023 lot to have scored 50+ scores against the SENA countries ( south Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia).
Given her amazing performance against the top cricketing nations, she got herself a spot in the ICC T20 team of the year for two consecutive years( 2018 and 2019). Besides, she got the record for scoring fastest T20 fifty against New Zealand in the year 2019.
Making India proud across oceans
Along with Harman preet kaur, Smriti Mandhana became the only Indian women cricketer to secure a deal in the WBBL in 2016. Moreover, in the year 2018, she also became the only women cricketer to play in England’s Kia Super league.
Given her contributions to Indian cricket across the globe, she has been honored by BCCI as the Best women international cricketer for the year 2018. Well, it just didn’t stop there and In December 2018, the ICC awarded her with the reputed Rachael Heyhoe-Flint Award for the best female cricketer of the year. On the other hand, she is also an Arjuna award winner( the highest sports recognition in India) for the year 2019.
Final words
There is no doubt about the fact that Smriti Mandhana is one of the best cricketers in the world right now. So, with WPL kicking off from 4th march, Smriti’s fans in the RCB’s faction will eagerly be waiting for a season full of master class performances from this prolific cricketer.
