Smriti Mandhana (born 18 July 1996) is an Indian cricketer who opens the batting for the India women’s team and is its vice-captain. An elegant left-handed batter, she is one of the best openers in women’s cricket and has twice won the ICC’s Rachael Heyhoe Flint Award as the world’s best female cricketer. She captained Royal Challengers Bengaluru to the Women’s Premier League title in 2024 and was India’s leading run-scorer when they won the Women’s ODI World Cup at home in 2025.
Quick Facts
| Full name | Smriti Shriniwas Mandhana |
| Born | 18 July 1996, Bombay (now Mumbai), India |
| Age | 30 |
| Hometown | Sangli, Maharashtra |
| Role | Left-handed opening batter |
| International debut | T20I and ODI April 2013, Test August 2014 |
| Domestic team | Maharashtra |
| WPL team | Royal Challengers Bengaluru (captain) |
| Honours | Arjuna Award (2019) |
| Known for | Elegant stroke play, ICC Cricketer of the Year (2018, 2021) |
Early Life
Mandhana was born in Mumbai and moved with her family to Sangli in Maharashtra when she was two. Her father, Shriniwas, and her elder brother, Shravan, both played district-level cricket, and she started batting at the nets while watching her brother train. Although she is naturally right-handed, she bats left-handed, copying her brother. She was picked for Maharashtra’s under-15 team at the age of nine, and in 2013 she scored 224 not out against Gujarat in an under-19 one-day match, becoming the first Indian woman to score a double hundred in a one-day game.
Career
Mandhana made her T20I and ODI debuts against Bangladesh in April 2013, aged 16, and played her first Test against England at Wormsley in 2014, helping India to a famous win. She scored her first ODI hundred in Australia in 2016. At the 2017 Women’s World Cup in England she made 90 against the hosts and an unbeaten 106 against West Indies, and India reached the final.
In 2018 she scored heavily in all formats and won the ICC’s Rachael Heyhoe Flint Award and the ICC Women’s ODI Cricketer of the Year award. She won the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Award again in 2021, the year she also scored a century in India’s first day-night Test, against Australia at Carrara. She helped India win silver at the 2022 Commonwealth Games and gold at the 2022 Asian Games, and she received the Arjuna Award in 2019.
As captain, Mandhana led Royal Challengers Bengaluru to the Women’s Premier League title in 2024, the franchise’s first trophy in any IPL competition. She was again named ICC Women’s ODI Cricketer of the Year for 2024. In September 2025 she hit a 50-ball hundred against Australia, the fastest ODI century by an Indian woman. At the 2025 Women’s World Cup in India she was the team’s top run-scorer as India beat South Africa in the final in Navi Mumbai to win their first world title.
Personal Life
Mandhana still calls Sangli home and is close to her family. She is a fan of the Sri Lankan batter Kumar Sangakkara and has often spoken about her love of music.
Awards and Honours
Major Titles
Frequently Asked Questions
When and where was Smriti Mandhana born?
Smriti Mandhana was born on 18 July 1996 in Bombay (now Mumbai), India and is 30 years old.
What is Smriti Mandhana known for?
Known for: Elegant stroke play, ICC Cricketer of the Year (2018, 2021).
What honours has Smriti Mandhana received?
Arjuna Award (2019).
Featured image: Sports minister Kiren Rijiju presents Smriti Mandhana with the Arjuna Award, New Delhi, 16 July 2019. Photo by Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, licensed under Government Open Data License – India, via Wikimedia Commons.
