Today is Smriti Mandhana’s birthday. Born on July 18, 1996, she turns 29 today. She has been a mainstay of Indian women’s cricket, playing all formats of the game.
Mandhana has played 7 Tests, 102 ODIs and 151 T20Is for India, scoring over 9,000 runs. She has 4,473 runs in ODIs, averaging 46.59, with 11 centuries. She has also done well in T20Is, with a strike rate of 124.15 and 3,942 runs. She has 2 Test centuries and recently became the second Indian woman to score a century in T20Is.
Why does she wear jersey number 18?
Virat Kohli, a former India captain, also wears jersey number 18. Although Kohli is an inspiration to her, her choosing the number has nothing to do with him.
In 2019, Mandhana told the BCCI that she picked the number because it’s her birth date. She initially wanted number 7 because it was her school roll number, but someone else had already chosen it. Her team manager suggested 18 since her birthday is on July 18. She only learned a couple of years ago that Virat also wears number 18.
Interesting Facts About Smriti Mandhana
Mandhana followed her brother Shravan into cricket. He played district level cricket. Her family supported her decision to play.
Coaches and selectors spotted her early and she made her senior team debut for Maharashtra at 13. At 16, she captained the state team in 2013.
That same year she became one of the youngest players to debut internationally for India in a T20 International against Bangladesh.
In 2014 she made her Test debut against England and scored a century.
Mandhana helped India reach the final of the 2017 World Cup in England, scoring 90 in the first game against the hosts.
Read Also:- Smriti Mandhana Enters Top 3 in the Latest ICC T20I Women’s Rankings
She was the first Indian player to sign with the Women’s Big Bash League side Brisbane Heat in the 2016-17 season.
In 2018 she received the Arjuna Award.
When the Women’s Premier League started in India, Mandhana was the most sought after player. Royal Challengers Bengaluru bought her for Rs 3.4 crores in 2023. Mandhana was the first RCB captain to win a trophy, winning the WPL 2024 title in Delhi.
Mandhana holds records in her international career, 6th fastest to 3,000 T20I runs (122 innings), most fifties (32) and 7th most matches (151) in women’s T20Is. In ODIs she scored most runs in a single edition of the ICC Women’s ODI Championship (1,358 runs in 2023-25 cycle) and most centuries in a calendar year in 2024 with 4 centuries.
