Smriti Mandhana: The Smiling Assassin From Sangli Who Became a World Beater
Smriti Mandhana [Twitter]
She’s got the height. She’s got the gift of timing. She’s even got the big shots in her game. What’s more? Within the soft exterior breathes an innately solid and dependable cricketer who doesn’t melt under pressure.
Earlier, it was said that she was meant for bigger things. Today, she’s already doing that.
The rise of a certain Smriti Mandhana befits the copybook definition of a cricketing superstar whose journey is the end result of painstaking devotion to the game and an endless love for batting.
Having been the smiling assassin from Sangli in Maharashtra, Smriti Mandhana today is a success story that not only impacts the life of youngsters around her- such as Yastika Bhatia, Shafali Verma and Radha Yadav but even draws applaud from one and all whether Deandra Dottin, Beth Mooney, Meg Lanning or Suzie Bates.
But while the moment of reckoning for Indian Women’s cricket came a little over half a decade back in the ODI Women’s World Cup of 2017, where Harmanpreet bulldozed the Australians courtesy a mesmerising 171*, an inning to savour, it was a few weeks earlier that then-relatively less known Smriti Mandhana authored the initial chapter of their cricket’s rise.
Against a powerful but perhaps also unsuspecting West Indian line up that could only put up 183 in the seventh contest of the checkered tournament, Smriti Mandhana’s marauding century first galvanised the attention of the globetrotting cricket fan towards the charismatic Indian line up.
It was a team that had no fewer stars than an Australia, White Ferns, or even hosts England with Mithali Raj, Jhulan Goswami, Harmanpreet Kaur herself alongside Poonam Yadav mounting the big names.
But it was the long locked strapping youngster from Maharashtra up the order that fired bullets from the bat that heat up a contest that maybe shouldn’t have become as one sided as it eventually became; Mandhana with her 106 that came off just 108 attracted attention, courted headlines for being a starry knock and eventually furthered the interest of the fan towards the women’s game.
Less than a year later, Smriti elongated the love for destroying big opponents albeit batting in completely different circumstances than the green tops of England; the opening one dayer of the three against Proteas women at Kimberley saw the left hander produce a diamond of a knock.
Her resilient 84 of just 98 deliveries pulverised a potent line up composed of Klaas, Kapp, Khaka and the unmistakably brilliant Dane van Niekerk.
Smriti’s classy fifty set the perfect tempo to a 2-1 series triumph that would mark India’s authority away from the balmy comfort of playing and wining on slow but turning subcontinental wickets.
Another dazzling century against the West Indies women in the previous edition of the one day World Cup, which resulted in a mighty century plus run stand with her skipper Harmanpreet Kaur in 2022, further heightened Smriti’s game and her widespread appeal.
Mandhana has been a prolific performer for India Women [Twitter]
However, make no mistake. She’s already presided over a career that’s had hits and misses and its share of disappointments; the 2020 Women’s T20 final loss suffered to Australia at Melbourne still hurts somewhere as does the feeling of having lost to the Aussies in the shortest format’s premier series: the 2023 T20 World Cup final.
Not having big scores against her name in both occasions did affect the course of India’s outing.
Perhaps it’s a lesson that Smriti would’ve noted with due caution: to improve her scoring against Australia, the undisputed leaders in the women’s ebb of the sport.
But other than that, with mighty consistent performances against premier opponents including arch-rivals Pakistan with the interrupted knack of scoring quickly, Mandhana, over the years has become a sort of a statutory warning to bowlers: whereby they’re advised at leaving nothing to chance.
Of course, the accompanying word of caution for teams regardless of their stature of standing in the sport is that anything can happen for as long as Smriti Mandhana occupies the crease.
However, it must be duly noted that her job is infinitely challenging and is anything but a cakewalk. When you open the innings, there’s always the added pressure of scoring amid the massive weight of expectations of doing nothing wrong early up the order. And it’s what you do that sets the precedent or tone to what may likely follow post your departure.
In that respect, the way Smriti Mandhana compiles her runs and authors her innings’, aligning attack with defence and breeding caution with aggression whilst somehow never comprising the rhythm of her batting is enviable and a subject of massive draw from the crowds.
In this post-Mithali and Jhulan era where Harmanpreet cannot alone do the job and where the likes of Bhatia and Verma are still very young, Smriti Mandhana’s job as the batting force becomes all the more important.
She’s got to find the useful runs and inspire a young generation of talents that look up to her as a guide and a problem solved particularly amid crisis situations.
But with her ability to stay calm even amid pressure, it can be said for certain that the birthday girl Smriti Mandhana is doing true justice to her limitless potential.
The future captain of Indian Cricket still has miles to go and many gaps on either side of the wicket to breach.
It must be noted with almost 6,000 international white ball runs to her credit, she’s only going to get better in the course of the future.
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