Indian women’s team opener Smriti Mandhana turns 23 on Thursday. The Mumbai Cricketer was born on 18 July 1996 and is one of the star cricketers in the Indian Women’s team. She was considered to be the best batswoman in the Indian team.
Mandhana has smashed 1951 ODI runs in 50 matches, 1298 T20I runs in 58 T20Is, and proved herself to be one of the strongest batswomen in the team.
However, Women’s cricket is still lagging behind the Men’s Cricket. It was now gaining its popularity and attracting the Indian fans and media’s attention towards it. Mandhana was now a famous name among the Indian Cricket fans. Here are some unknown facts behind her cricketing stardom.
Smriti Mandhana is a famed name but no one knows that her brother and father are also cricketers who play in district level for Sangal, in Maharastra.
Mandhana was the first women cricketer to make a double century in ODI’s. Mandhana made an unbeaten score of 224 from 150 balls when she played for Maharashtra against Gujarat in West Zone under-19 tournament.
She was having a special bat with ‘The Wall’ of Indian cricket, Rahul Dravid, which she gifted to her brother. Despite owning the bat, Mandhana never has used the bat to play.
Mandhana was one of the youngest ones to be a T20 captain for India when she was leading the women’s team against England. She was just 22 years old when she replaced Harmanpreet Kaur as skipper, who was ruled out of the three T20 series due to an ankle injury.
When she has completed her 10, she had thought of pursuing Science, but her mother convinced her to take commerce because she thought that Mandhan wouldn’t be able to handle both studies and cricket simultaneously. Hence, Mandhana opted for commerce and later on, she pursued her Bachelor of Commerce.
Mandhana was inspired by her brother who also used to play cricket. Mandhana’s parents were always supportive of her, and they wanted her to become one of the popular figures in cricket.
Now, Mandhana was a famed figure in Indian cricket playing not only in India but also in various foreign leagues.
I'm delighted to confer the prestigious Arjuna Awards to @mandhana_smriti , one of the finest Women Cricketer in the world and @rohanbopanna , Tennis star & India's proud Asian Games Gold medalist. They couldn't receive the Awards earlier as they were out of the country. pic.twitter.com/XbdzMzoIL8
— Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) July 16, 2019
Happy Birthday @mandhana_smriti 🎂🎈 🎉
🏏ICC Women's Cricketer Of The Year: 2018
🏏Arjuna Award: 2018
🏏CEAT International Cricketer Of The Year: 2019
Wish you a great year ahead..✌️#HappyBirthdaySmritiMandhana pic.twitter.com/IBKIebSXFC
— Pankaj Happy Sharma (@pankajhappyhp) July 18, 2019
Happiest birthday to miss #SmritiMandhana.Top in icc batting ranking. One of my Favourite cricketer.Have a successful future ahead.Keep growing. God bless you. @mandhana_smriti #HappyBirthdaySmritiMandhana pic.twitter.com/PULLQZJwBi
— JAY LAD (@jaylad776) July 18, 2019
Happy birthday @mandhana_smriti Hope you take Indian women cricket to greater heights. Love watching you bat. #HappyBirthdaySmritiMandhana
— Maitri Jain (@MaitriJain12) July 18, 2019
Birthday Greetings to World Number 1 ODI Player in Women’s Cricket, @mandhana_smriti!!!
Wishing you health and happiness forever!!#HappyBirthdaySmritiMandhana pic.twitter.com/F0DfGAwlcX
— Pavilion Talks (@PavilionTalks) July 17, 2019
I am still in the hangover of that final.
Imagine if we had better umpiring and NZ had some more luck.Anyways it's July 18th and it's #HappyBirthdaySmritiMandhana
One of the best female Cricketers right now.
Go hard young Lady!— 🇮🇳JAFFER Imam🇮🇳 (@absoluteJAFFER) July 18, 2019
