Smriti Mandhana is in news again. This time for a positive and glorious reason. Last time she was explaining the reason for the postponement and later cancelation of her wedding with music director Palash Muchhal. Now she is celebrating her position as number one batter among the Indian women cricketers. She has beaten the record of Mithali Raj of Hyderabad in scoring most runs. Mithali was the Indian captain who has been an inspiration for many women cricketers in India. When Smriti scored her 18th first class century in Dubai during her match against Hongkong on September 3, in just 57 balls, she set a new record for scoring the highest number of centuries in women international cricket across all formats.
Wealth and Financial Standings
Smriti is the wealthiest woman cricketer in the country. Her net worth is about Rs 32- Rs 34 crore ($4 million). Ellys Perry, Australian cricketer and former soccer player, is widely recognized as the richest female cricketer in the world, with an estimated net worth of around $ 13.5 to $14 million (approximately Rs 120 crore).
Smriti was scheduled to get married on 23 November 2025. But as her father shrinivas Mandhana was hospitalized following a health scare just before the planned wedding the wedding had to be postponed. Her fiancé, Palash Muchhal was also briefly hospitalized soon after. Smriti deleted her marriage and engagement posts after the wedding got postponed. There were many rumours regarding the relationship but the family stated that privacy and health are the priority focus areas during the sensitive period.
Record-Breaking Run in Dubai
After the episode, Smriti Mandhana concentrated on her game and has been doing extremely well. In Dubai Asia cup T20 against Hongkong, by the time she was run out for 124 she had overtaken her former captain Mithali Raj to become the highest run-scorer in women’s international cricket. She had so far scored 10,880 runs as against 10,868 of Mithali, 12 runs more than her senior. While Mithali is retired, Smriti who is 30 is still a long way to go. Her score was also the highest in the history of the women’s T20 Asia Cup surpassing Sri Lankan batter Chamari Athapaththus’s 119 not out from 2024.
Evolution from Slow Starter to Century Machine
Smriti, unlike now, was a slow starter and picked up speed in due course. Her international career had begun with a T20 against Bangladesh in April 2013. That was just three months before she turned 17. She had to wait for three years to get her first century in her 32nd international innings in 2016 against Australia. And it had taken her 115 more innings and five years, till 2021, to reach her fifth century. To get her tenth century she had to play 92 more innings. Then she gained unprecedented speed. Ten of her 18 centuries came in the last two years when she had a higher strike rate.
Accelerating Past Global Rivals
Smriti stands out particularly when compared with other celebrities. Australia’s Meg Lanning reached her 10 hundreds in 123 innings. It is about half the number of innings that Smriti played (239) to reach her ten centuries. There are four more players in the international cricket who reached their ten centuries before their 200 innings. Smriti’s game has got the spring after reaching her 200th innings. She has hit seven sixes in Dubai and took her tally of sixes to 95 making her the leading woman hitter of sixes in India. She is the fourth highest in the world among women as far as sixes are concerned. She is also the first Indian woman to score more than one century in the T20 format. While doing so, she equaled Mithali’s record of 93 fifty-plus scores in international cricket.
Format-wise Statistics and Milestones
Smriti scored in One Day International (ODI) 5,411 runs with an average of 47.88 runs. As far as Tests are concerned she scored in 16 innings 788 runs with an average of 52.53 and in 167 T20s innings she had hit 4, 681 runs with an average of 30.6 runs. Across all the three formats she has 10,880 runs to her credit at the average of 38.86 runs. She has been consistent with several peaks in her wonderful career. Another aspect in which she is on the top is the pace with which she scored her runs. She earned the name of the fastest woman to reach 10,000 runs in 281 innings. She has now become the highest run maker in 303 international innings. The number of innings played by Smriti so far are fewer than the innings played by the other four international celebrities who scored more than 10,000 runs. Except Stanfanie Taylor, the Jamaican batter, rest of the celebrities have now retired from international cricket.
The “JemRiti” Bond with Jemimah Rodrigues
Jamimah Rodrigues, the one down Indian woman batter who is now hurt, is the best friend of Smriti. They are always together sharing the same room during tours. Media and fans have nicknamed the duo as “JemRiti. They support each other during their highs and lows. ”Virat Kohli is the batting inspiration for Smriti besides Sri Lankan batsman Kumar Chokshanada Sangakkara. He captained Sri Lankan team from 2000 to 2015. Mandhana has already expressed ‘crazy amount’ of respect for Kohli’s achievements as a batsman. She likes his finishing and match-winning abilities and tries to emulate him in her game. Kohli, on the other hand, praises Smriti’s timing and leadership qualities.
Family Roots and Childhood Idols
Smriti’s brother Shravan who played cricket was her first inspiration. Her father was a source of constant encouragement. Yuvaraj was her personal inspiration as far as fearless attitude is concerned. Sachin Tendulkar is the overall idol for her. She has also spoken about her admiration for Matthew Hayden of Australia. A few years ago, Smriti told the media that her mother taught her to preserve, to go on till she reaches the top. She said she wanted to be the best batter in the world. She has a long way to go although she achieved fame and name with her 304 innings. She told the media at Dubai after breaking the records that “it is just the start.” Let us wish Smriti a lot of success and hope that she would establish world records difficult for other players to break. She has talent, endurance and willpower. Sky is the limit for the beautiful woman cricketer of India.
Prominent Journalist
Dr. K. Ramachandra Murthy is a versatile journalist with a distinguished career. Dr. Murthy began his extensive career with Andhra Prabha of The Indian Express group in Bengaluru. He was editor of Udayam, Vaartha and Andhra Jyothy. Dr. Murthy founded and edited HMTV news channel and The Hans India, an English newspaper. He was also editorial director of the Telugu newspaper, Saakshi. He was awarded Ph. D for his research work in rural reporting. Dr. Murthy’s five decades in journalism showcases his influential roles across both print and electronic media. He wrote the political biography of NTR published by Harper Collins.
Email: murthykondubhatla@gmail.com
Mobile: 9908002211
